A raging fire at a Cuban oil facility worsens the island's energy crisis
NPR Online NewsDec 26, 2022
Cuba to Allow Some Foreign Investment in Wholesale, Retail
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Image copyright: VWPics/AP [via NBC News]
The Facts
On Mon., Cuba announced plans to allow foreign investors to fully own local wholesalers or enter the market through joint ventures for the first time since the 1959 revolution led by Fidel Castro.
Deputy Trade Minister Ana Teresita Gonzalez said that retail would be more restricted, but that foreign investment would be "selectively" allowed in that sector as well, provided the investment contributed to the country's socialist goals and lowered prices.
The Spin
Narrative A
This latest announcement, along with other reforms that Cuba is undertaking, represents a major ideological shift in a country where the government has monopolized the economy for years. Allowing foreign investment in wholesale and retail trade will boost the local industry at a time of severe shortages in basic goods. This is the right decision.
Narrative B
Allowing "selective" foreign investments in wholesale and retail trade is too little, too late, and won't actually adjust the country's state-led economic model. The limitations and regulations that accompany the latest announcement mean that overseas investments will remain under state regulation, and will likely have little impact on the ailing economy.
