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Cars carry Cubans to economic freedom
Source: Agencies |
September 30, 2011, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
FOR the first time since the 1959 revolution, Cubans will have the right to buy and sell cars in a much-anticipated reform under President Raul Castro, another step toward greater economic freedom on the communist-led island.
An official decree published this week said Cubans and foreign residents would now be able to do with their cars what they wanted "without any prior authorization from any entity."
The regulations, which take effect tomorrow, are not without limits, but they were welcomed by Cubans, most of whom have not been able to own cars for more than five decades.
Office worker Silvia Santos said: "It is great because it was something forbidden and prices were really high. If you had a car you were not able to do anything with it."
Liberalizing car sales was one of more than 300 reforms put forward by Castro and approved in April at a congress of the Communist Party, Cuba's only legal political party.
The proposed changes put a greater emphasis on private initiative and less government control.
Previously, only automobiles that were in Cuba before the 1959 revolution could be bought and sold freely, which is why there are so many cars from the 1950s or older, most of them US-made, rumbling through Cuban streets.
There are also many Soviet-made cars, dating from the era when the Soviet Union was the island's biggest ally and benefactor. They have been available to those with government permission, including assorted officials, athletes, artists and doctors.
A black market has developed in which people illegally buy cars licensed to somebody else.
The new regulations will allow only Cubans with government permission and foreign residents to import cars. All others will be limited to cars already on the island.
The rules also allow Cubans migrating from the island to sell their cars or to give them to family members, neither of which they could do in the past.
Foreign residents temporarily living on the island will be limited to owning two cars, imported or not, during their stay.
Castro has said his wide-ranging reforms are needed to ensure the survival of Cuban communism.
An official decree published this week said Cubans and foreign residents would now be able to do with their cars what they wanted "without any prior authorization from any entity."
The regulations, which take effect tomorrow, are not without limits, but they were welcomed by Cubans, most of whom have not been able to own cars for more than five decades.
Office worker Silvia Santos said: "It is great because it was something forbidden and prices were really high. If you had a car you were not able to do anything with it."
Liberalizing car sales was one of more than 300 reforms put forward by Castro and approved in April at a congress of the Communist Party, Cuba's only legal political party.
The proposed changes put a greater emphasis on private initiative and less government control.
Previously, only automobiles that were in Cuba before the 1959 revolution could be bought and sold freely, which is why there are so many cars from the 1950s or older, most of them US-made, rumbling through Cuban streets.
There are also many Soviet-made cars, dating from the era when the Soviet Union was the island's biggest ally and benefactor. They have been available to those with government permission, including assorted officials, athletes, artists and doctors.
A black market has developed in which people illegally buy cars licensed to somebody else.
The new regulations will allow only Cubans with government permission and foreign residents to import cars. All others will be limited to cars already on the island.
The rules also allow Cubans migrating from the island to sell their cars or to give them to family members, neither of which they could do in the past.
Foreign residents temporarily living on the island will be limited to owning two cars, imported or not, during their stay.
Castro has said his wide-ranging reforms are needed to ensure the survival of Cuban communism.
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