By El Toque

HAVANA TIMES – On August 19, 2024, a new list of activities prohibited for micro, small and medium-sized private companies, cooperatives and self-employed persons was published in the Official Gazette.

The new bans affect the forestry, manufacturing, trade and cultural sectors.

The decree prohibits forestry activities, support services and other activities related to the forest, the extraction of wood (except for charcoal and firewood), and the capture of species subject to a special protection regime, threatened or endangered species, poisonous or restricted species reserved exclusively for state activities.

The manufacture of special orthopedic footwear as well as the manufacture, installation, repair and maintenance of electromedical devices are also prohibited.

The decree states that the management of sewage systems or wastewater treatment plants is not allowed in settlements with more than 1,000 inhabitants. Cleaning of septic tanks or pits is allowed only with special and certified equipment.

Self-employed persons will be prohibited from engaging in wholesale trade or wholesale sales of rum, cigarettes and cigars.

The private sector is also not permitted to convene or organize international events or carry out cultural program activities unless it participates in the administration and implementation of the events.

In the field of education, the regulation amended the section of the previous decree to prohibit the creation of academies or the issuance of course and workshop certificates. Likewise, the activities of groups, circuses or companies, orchestras and bands are prohibited, as well as the creation, promotion and commercialization of artists’ catalogs and other artistic specialties, all of which are reserved to the State.

What now?

“Close or wait for clarification” are the suggestions repeated by private entrepreneurs in social media groups and personal chats following the publication of the regulations relevant to the sector.

Among the new bans, the one relating to wholesale trade for self-employed persons is particularly worrying and raises questions.

“Does this also apply to buying/importing and selling or is the ban only for one of these activities?” asked an entrepreneur interviewed by El Toque who preferred to remain anonymous. “Another ambiguous law that doesn’t even give me the choice of whether to close, change my economic activity or continue as before,” asks the small business owner.

Some entrepreneurs agree that both the regulations and the activities prohibited for the self-employed represent a form of forced closure or, worse, a provocation to push them into illegal activities.

A businessman from Las Tunas responded by saying: “What the Cuban economy needs is greater production of goods and services, regardless of whether this is provided by the private or public sector.”

By imposing additional restrictions on already weakened economic sectors, the decree adopted by the Council of Ministers will further tighten production capacities and make delivery options even more difficult.

One entrepreneur told El Toque anonymously that the biggest problem with the decree is not only the new prohibited activities, but also the fact that the number of permitted activities has not been expanded as expected and promised by the government.

The new restrictions make it even more difficult to work efficiently and diversify the economy, they exacerbate product shortages and prices and worsen the quality of life of Cubans.

When the draft decree was leaked a week earlier, it suggested that instead of a reduction in bans, as promised by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero, there would be an increase in unauthorized activities in Cuba’s non-governmental sector.

Economist Pedro Monreal confirmed on his social networks that this was “the restriction of private activities and the market as part of government measures supposedly intended to ‘correct distortions and revitalize the economy.'”

Click here to see (in Spanish) the full list of prohibited private activities.

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First published in Spanish by The Toque and translated and published in English by Havana Times.

Read more from Cuba in the Havana Times here.