A large-scale price control operation resulted in around 450 fines totaling over 650,000 pesos in Sancti Spíritus, as part of the so-called National Joint Action Exercise conducted last Wednesday in that province.
The operation involved around 150 supervisors who conducted more than 500 inspections at various locations throughout the provincial territory, according to the telecenter Centrovisión Yayabo.
In addition to fines, the authorities ordered several forced sales, a seizure, the closure of a business, and various warnings to address the detected economic violations.
The main irregularities were related to abusive or speculative pricing, the absence of visible listings, lack of invoices, and other shortcomings in the marketing process.
Among the products subject to forced sales were detergent, rice, cucumber, sweet potato, taro, papaya, oil, and cabbage, several of which are regulated by Resolution 225/2024 from the Ministry of Finance and Prices, which establishes maximum prices for high-demand products.
The authorities insisted that "such actions aim to reinforce commercial discipline, protect the consumer, and enforce compliance with current market regulations."
The operation in Sancti Spíritus occurs amid an inspection offensive that spans the entire country. On the same day, in Centro Habana, a vendor of pozuelos received two fines in a single day. One was for 36,000 pesos and the other for 10,000 pesos, which sparked a wide debate on social media regarding the legality of penalizing twice in the same day.
The most recent nationwide event was the National Exercise to Combat Price Violations held from February 19 to 21, which resulted in 17,000 fines totaling 65.5 million pesos, with inspections conducted at over 25,100 centers across the country.
The magnitude of the sanctions stands in stark contrast to the precarious economic situation of the Cuban population. The average state salary is only 6,930 pesos per month, equivalent to about 13 dollars at the unofficial exchange rate, making each fine a disproportionate burden for those trying to earn a living in a context of widespread scarcity.
In Sancti Spíritus, similar operations had already been recorded in 2024, when 190 fines were imposed and 15 establishments were closed for price violations, focusing on agricultural products such as malanga, papaya, cucumber, and tomato.
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