CUBA’S COMMUNIST PARTY TO SELL CARS
Like most adults in Cuba the Cuban communist party must hustle to make money, this is done by short-changing customers, stealing inventory, getting tourists to buy you lunch, the variety of hustles is endless in Cuba. On February 6, 2020, the Cuban communist party announced its new hustle will be selling cars.
The average salary in Cuba is equivalent to approximately $30 U.S. dollars a month, and besides this most adults receive five eggs, a quarter chicken, and few pounds of rice “free” through their ration book every month. Currently in Cuba a 2010 Kia Rio or Toyota Yaris sells for over $60,000 U.S. dollars and across the Florida straits in Miami these same cars sell for about $4,000, and they sell for approximately $8,000 in the Caribbean nation of Dominican Republic. Keep in mind that most of the cars the Cuban government is selling are not one owner creampuffs, but cars that were first used in their rental fleet and then taxi fleet, they are falling apart. How can you buy a fifty-thousand dollar car when you make five-hundred dollars a month?
The Cuban government pays an average salary under $400 per year, so how are Cubans supposed to afford these cars? If a family with four adults working for the Cuban government saves all of their income for forty years they would be able to afford a used Toyota at todays prices, but they would have to save every dollar they made for those forty years, which would require their relatives in the U.S. to send them money every month so they could buy food.
What is going on in Cuba? Contact us to plan your trip to our crazy island neighbor and try to find out for yourself!
By Frank Gonzalez
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