A farmer from the municipality of Yara, in the province of Granma, became the most eloquent symbol of the contradiction between the reformist rhetoric of the Cuban regime and the reality of the countryside.
Andrés Manuel Sosa Ramírez was fined just a few weeks ago with 200,000 pesos for having his livestock grazing on idle lands. Days after receiving his fine, Díaz-Canel's government announced a new package of 176 economic measures, marking the largest agrarian reform since the 1990s.
"In several of those measures, they devalue the fine they imposed on me, but they didn't remove it. They left it in place, and I have to pay it. That's why I want to propose to the State selling them two of my best cows for 100,000 pesos each. They are producing 10 liters of milk. If they didn't remove the fine... Are these new measures for real?" the Cuban livestock farmer asked.
Sosa Ramírez reported the sanction in a Facebook video that garnered over 13 million views and sparked the debate over whether the promised reforms hold any real significance for those who work the land.
"200,000 pesos in fines because my cattle are grazing on idle land. Is it bad or good? I have no other offenses," stated the producer, who has over thirty years of experience in the livestock sector.
It wasn't the first time the authorities had sanctioned him. In May, the CENCOP (National Center for Livestock Control) had already imposed a fine of 60,000 pesos on him for an alleged age discrepancy in his animals.
"Sixty thousand pesos were offered to me for a difference in age," Sosa Ramírez recalled, who also reported that the intention of the Agriculture Delegation is to take away his cattle.
The legal framework that enables these sanctions is Decree 70/2022 from the Council of Ministers, which establishes fines of up to 20,000 pesos for each unregistered head of livestock, along with the confiscation of the animal.
Additionally, there is Resolution 20/2025 from the Ministry of Finance and Prices, which imposes a tax on idle agricultural land: if the farmer does not use the land, they pay; if they use it for livestock without properly updated records, they also pay.
"It is abusive, and there are over 200 caballerías of land lost where I live," said the producer, who warned that the fine forces him to sell his best cows to cover it.
The case of Sosa Ramírez is not an isolated incident. Cuba has lost more than 900,000 head of cattle since 2019, and by the end of 2024, the national herd stood at just three million animals. A nationwide inspection conducted between March 2024 and January 2025 identified 181,854 irregularities in the management of the cattle population across the country.
On June 19, the government announced the 176 economic measures that, in their Axis 7 of Agriculture, promise indefinite usufruct of land, free prices agreed upon between producers and buyers, direct access to foreign trade for cooperatives, and the creation of an Agricultural Development Bank.
However, skepticism is widespread. The United States government referred to the package as "superficial smoke signals," while Cuban activists rejected the reforms and analysts warn that they will benefit select sectors, not the farmers who have been working the land for decades.
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