Economist Pedro Monreal has fiercely criticized an article published by the pro-government portal Cubadebate regarding the pricing situation in Cuba, describing it as "mediocre."
"The only worthwhile part is the photo caption, which barely touches on supply and demand. The rest is just empty rhetoric," the expert stated.
The article scrutinized by Monreal appeared in the state-run media's section "Pensar el Derecho" without an identified author. Titled "Am I Being Overcharged? What the Law Says About Prices," it discusses Cuba's pricing crisis purely from a legal perspective, citing a series of decrees and resolutions instead of delving into the true economic causes of inflation.
Monreal's Economic Perspective
In his critique posted on X, Monreal contrasted the bureaucratic approach of the article with a basic economic definition that the state-sponsored text overlooks.
"A price reflects the exchange relationship between a good or service and a monetary unit. It's an economic relationship, not a fiction imposed by decree. Prices are shaped by the interplay of supply and demand, influenced by production costs, competition, consumer value perception, and external factors like inflation or regulations," he elaborated.
The economist further highlighted the political underpinnings of the article: "The lengthy list of regulations cited in the article reveals a party-driven and governmental bureaucracy increasingly lost in addressing its own mistakes."
Bureaucratic Legal References
The Cubadebate text piles up references to various legal frameworks, including Decree 24 of 2020 on price approval powers, Decree 156 of 2026 from the Council of Ministers, Resolution 16/2026 from the Ministry of the Interior Commerce regulating the so-called "Neighborhood Market," and Resolutions 160 and 161 of 2026 from the Ministry of Finance and Prices, which outline sales tax exemptions and rebates for specific commercial circuits.
For Monreal, this legal accumulation explains nothing, serving instead as an excuse for a bureaucracy that mistakes legal frameworks for economic realities.
He concluded his analysis with a statement encapsulating the core contradiction of the Cuban model: "Markets will always undermine bureaucratic prices, reminding officials that it is not the Official Gazette or their Excel sheets that govern, but reality itself."
The Ineffectiveness of Recent Economic Measures
In June, the regime announced 176 economic measures, including ending centralized price controls, arguing that previous ceilings had led to shortages and diverted goods to the black market.
Shortly thereafter, the Ministry of Finance and Prices formally abolished maximum retail price caps for five essential imported goods: cut chicken, edible oils (excluding olive oil), powdered milk, pasta, and sausages.
However, by August, provincial authorities in Villa Clara, Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, Holguín, Matanzas, and Pinar del Río had unilaterally and uncoordinatedly reinstated price controls on basic food items.
"The alleged liberalizing focus of the 176 measures faded in less than two months," Monreal criticized, summarizing the disarray with a striking comment on his Facebook profile: "176 measures and one achievement: proving they learned nothing."
Understanding Cuba's Pricing Crisis
What was Pedro Monreal's main criticism of the Cubadebate article?
Pedro Monreal criticized the article for its lack of economic analysis, focusing instead on legal decrees while ignoring the real economic causes of inflation, such as supply and demand dynamics.
How did recent economic measures announced by the Cuban government fare?
The measures, intended to liberalize pricing by removing centralized price controls, were short-lived. Various provincial authorities soon reinstated price controls, undermining the initial intent of the reforms.
What is the core contradiction of the Cuban economic model according to Monreal?
Monreal argues that the Cuban economic model's central contradiction lies in its reliance on bureaucratic control over market realities, which ultimately fail against the fundamental forces of supply and demand.