{"id":310762,"date":"2024-10-04T19:07:26","date_gmt":"2024-10-04T23:07:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=310762"},"modified":"2024-10-04T19:07:26","modified_gmt":"2024-10-04T23:07:26","slug":"julio-carranza-time-goes-by-and-contradictions-in-cuba-are-accumulating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/economy\/cuban-economy\/julio-carranza-time-goes-by-and-contradictions-in-cuba-are-accumulating\/","title":{"rendered":"Julio Carranza: \u201cTime goes by and contradictions in Cuba are accumulating\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an analysis of the current situation in Cuba, economist Julio Carranza warns that the island faces at least three crises. \u201cA macroeconomic one, a growth one, and one of the economic model,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The doctor in Economic Sciences and former regional advisor to UNESCO explained, in an interview with <\/span>OnCuba<\/b>, that the nation also faces problems associated with infrastructure, the demographic situation, and electricity generation, among others.<\/span><\/p>\n

He also considered that the international panorama is not entirely favorable. \u201cWe do not have large international alliances, as in the past. There are many friendly countries, good relations with many states, but alliances that imply, for example, a significant preferential economic treatment, beyond how important the relationship with Venezuela has been, do not exist at this time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The conditions that have accompanied the economic reality of the island in the last 60 years also remain. \u201cCuba is a small country, with very limited natural resources, located in a very complicated geopolitical area, close to the United States, a great power with a very hostile policy,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen there is a situation as complicated as the one Cuba has, which is due to historical factors of a diverse nature and is expressed in an economic and social crisis, the way to overcome it strategically is by making a fundamental transformation of the model of operation of the economy and society,\u201d Carranza reflected.<\/span><\/p>\n

In his opinion, the horizon of this reform must be socialist. However, he warned that it is necessary to define what socialism means in Cuban conditions. \u201cThe <\/span>rigid schemes of historical socialism<\/b><\/a> are not adequate to respond to this problem,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The heart of the reform<\/b><\/p>\n

Julio Carranza insists that the debate between the different social actors is key to transforming the economic reality.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEconomics is a social science and it is because it does not study relationships between things, but between people. Therefore, this discussion about the economy has to be more open, participatory, better understood by people, especially in a time of crisis and necessary changes,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The expert believes the so-called <\/span>socialist state enterprise<\/b><\/a>\u00a0and <\/span>agricultural production<\/b><\/a> should be \u201cthe heart of the comprehensive reform.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a system of enterprises that, with a few exceptions, is essentially inefficient and that is where most of the economy is. Enterprises have to be the object of a transformation, not so that they stop being state-owned, but so that they stop being inefficient. To do that, they have to be integrated more autonomously with the market,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

He affirmed that it is necessary to generate competitiveness and move from a bureaucratic and administrative planning of resource allocation to a more financial and indicative one. \u201cTo remain tied to the planning methods of the old socialist European countries would be a foolishness that could be very costly,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The expert believes the socialist state enterprise and agricultural production should be \u201cthe heart of the reform. Photo: Osvaldo Pupo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Meanwhile, Carranza explained his opposition to the term used to refer to state-owned enterprises on the island. \u201cI prefer to call them public. In a country like Cuba, when it is said that this is the socialist state enterprise, it means that the others are capitalist, which places the private sector in an anti-system logic that generates prejudices,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is socialist or capitalist is the system that integrates them, how markets are regulated, in which social wealth is redistributed, how there is popular participation and people\u2019s power is maintained through democratic institutions,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the other hand, the economist, referring to agriculture, commented that this sector has many limitations, which have been tried to be solved with a <\/span>list of measures<\/b><\/a>. \u201cBut, what is needed is a transformation of the concept of how food is produced in Cuba,\u201d he asserted.<\/span><\/p>\n

In his opinion, this change would include a discussion on the role of the private sector in agriculture.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe majority of food is being produced by the private sector; however, it is full of limitations. From the collection structures, which by definition are not bad, but do not work well, to the access they have to production conditions, including land,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Carranza also criticized the imbalance in Cuba\u2019s investments and their impact on the sector.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe investment policy, by all accounts, does not seem to respond to the country\u2019s fundamental priorities because there is <\/span>more than 30% concentration of investment in the real estate-hotel sector<\/b><\/a> and less than 3% in agriculture. It is also insufficient in other fundamental sectors such as health and education,\u201d he commented.<\/span><\/p>\n

This means, according to the economist, that the scarce national resources are being invested in tourism, when this sector <\/span>is not now in a position to repay that investment<\/b><\/a>. Meanwhile, agricultural production needs capital.<\/span><\/p>\n