Cuba's crumbling economy: Island plunges further into crisis • FRANCE 24 English
Cubans are taking to the streets as their country spirals further into economic crisis. Suffering from food shortages and power outages, residents are demanding action from the regime. The country has never recovered from the Covid pandemic crippling its tourism sector. The additional burden of US sanctions and the long-running US embargo has not helped. Cubans lack essential items like food and medicine, while fuel prices rose 500 percent at the beginning of March. Our France 2 colleagues report, with FRANCE 24's Lauren Bain.
#Cuba #economy #tourism
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A private shop is “socialism evolving”? Whatever you say 😂
lol
Right.
Thus is the proof that basic capitalism is the default format for any society. Capitalism has existed in one way or another since the beginning of human society.
@@pedrolopes3542 Yes.
It is the freedom to profit from your own labor
Lets be honest here Cuba is able to trade with other countries their biggest trading partners are China, Venezuela, Mexico, Canada, Spain, Brazil, Netherlands, France and Germany. Cuba just doesn't " PRODUCE ENOUGH VALUE ", Why, you ask? Because the government have an internal blockade stopping people from owning private enterprise or freedom to do so. This is the reason why Cuba is poor and can't afford basic necessities.
Correct 💯 These comments here are clueless! The government has control of every aspect of the economy that simply scares investment! As you said Cuba trades a lot with Spain! Yet Cubans can't eat Jamón Serrano 😂😂😂
Spot on!
It's not. You have no idea how economic sanctions work, they cripple countries, same story with Venezuela
correct
The USA embargo does not help. But it is time for Cuba to change.
Cuba has been fucked for over 60 years. Castro saw to that
LOL....its not capitalism , its evolved communism. People that dont want to admit the truth cracks me up.
@@OloRishaCreole504 No need to _DEFLECT..._ just Answer the question.
@@HughJass-jv2lt i could care less about the u.s. and their silly embargo obviously its not really working if Cuba HAVE big trading partners..only countries that wouldnt trade with cuba are the 1s who are scared of U.S. repercussions...its actually Cubas government pocketing everything while trickling a little down the hole
And to answer your ? On why..Because old Cuban emigres in Florida are still really pissed about Castro taking over and Florida is a swing state. Cuba has very little to offer any American politician, and there isn't a substantial pro-Cuba or anti-embargo political movement in the US so there's no incentive to do anything other than keep the embargo going...after they die off, Im sure it would be lifted and over with..Unless the younger generation keeps it going
@@HughJass-jv2lt Why should America be forced to trade with a country they don't want to trade with? Cuba can trade with any other country in the world, and yet they have nothing to sell.
Sure dear...
Creating a society with the goal of ensuring equality of outcomes rather than equality of opportunity has its costs…
Can't agree more
And the goal isn't achievable anyway
@@alexdavis1541 Because even socialism/communism has rich and poor.
More than a few pure capitalist countries in central and south American that are just as bad off and 50 times as violent.
The old Soviet Union had problems with food inventory, too. It’s a feature of socialism.
So did China, Romania, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and North Korea.
I'd call it Sanctions
@@freepalestine7687 The Soviet Union grew LOTS of wheat and had plenty of other communal agriculture. The problem was the state decided where it was to go. That’s why the long bread lines in the old USSR. It wasn’t sanctions.
@@freepalestine7687 I'd call it mismanagement.
@@freepalestine7687 I'd call it 'Command Economics', where a group of Party Hacks running the Economy are making decisions that they are not even close to being qualified to make. The Chernobyl Disaster would be but one example. The man-made environmental disaster with the Sea of Aral would be another. The list of Marxist-Leninist blunders goes on and on..
A ration card in 2024? Come on Cuba, something has to change.
i agree, but look at the usa with food stamps (ebt) what is the difference
@@trajanwhite5095 damn you beat me to it
We found the Leftists!
@@trajanwhite5095people on ebt can actually work and get off of the ebt, but many don't. The only difference is one group of people are forced to depend upon the government while the ebt crowd chooses (in many cases) to be dependent on the government.
@@trajanwhite5095 I was just going to say food stamps
What a mess! In what society would people work for free.
How else are you going to pay for your pet unicorn provided by the Great Glorious Supreme Dear Leader?
Historically, all societies. Indigenous culture thrived on cooperation.
@@timmytrimble4069 Are you talking about the cannibals of Borneo? Or the Druid festivals to burn humans alive? Maybe the human sacrifices practiced by the Aztecs?
@@DemPilafian Without wishing to digress from the original post about working for free. I should point out that the issues you mention are tragic. As is the organised, commercial scale killing as we speak.
In slavery which it is
4:38 But is that capitalism? No, It socialism evolving. What’s a lie!
Haha evolving
There's quite a difference between running your own shop and being the hardest worker with the longest hours in the shop and possibly the only worker in the shop and on the other hand being a wealthy owner of a factory which employs hundreds of workers and never doing a minute of physical labour in one's life.
Women even in other countries are delusional. They’re always the first to fall for the great lie. And am saying that as a woman.
Evolving into capitalism
Anyone with sense can tell she's just trying to avoid imprisonment. France24 was setting her up for trouble with this goofy question just for content.
This is not news.. CUBA HAS ALWAYS BEEN LIKE THIS. I’m 32 and for as long as I can remember nothing has changed.
I’m 70 and Cubs has almost always been that way. When I was in kindergarten in 1959 was the Revolution.
Went to Cuba 20 years ago, the neighbourhood shop didn't have anything in it back then either.
China's economy evolved to embrace unbridled capitalism and they thrived.
Good point - but actually it's "bridled" capitalism, not "un" and it's not working too well of late.
China has built a house of cards with debt which is beginning to crumble.
um, no. A few have thrived. Everyone else remains poor. Marx the Capitalist? yeah right....
@@karlthomas2360Before, everyone but party bosses were poor.
@@MrRezillo Namely due to Xi wanting to take China back to the Mao era.
All these video about the disaster of Cuba mention the U.S. sanctions, but they NEVER mention why those sanctions exist in the first place.
Because we have a large Cuban population that wants sanctions to happen? Because they have dreams of going home after counter-revolution?
@@sandal_thong8631 Of course Cubans in the U.S. want to go back; why wouldn't they? But the sanctions are there because human rights don't really exist in Cuba. Cuba want's the sanctions lifted? Start by allowing free elections, free speech, closing the internal gulags, allowing small businesses to flourish. But the old farts in the Communist Party and the thugs who do their dirty work would be S.O.L. and the apparatchiks don't want that.
@@sandal_thong8631 beep.. wrong answer
Cuba can still trade with 150 other countries.
@@pigdroppings Trade with the US is not that important. Their problems are internal.
Every single person walking around thise "vibrant" streets is just out looking for food, or something to do for some money or both. That's the job, looking.
I don’t understand why European tourists care about the american travel restrictions when they can fly directly to Cuba.
Because most Europeans travel to the U.S. visa-free. If they go to Cuba, they forfeit their visa-free status and will need a U.S. visa before they can enter the U.S.
@@elifuentes7070 thanks!
My family is from Cuba and I don't understand why Europeans would even want to go there
@@elifuentes7070 I doubt that. Canadians this winter lined up for Cuba.
@@user-zf3xb3qx8w Canadians are not Europeans. Canadians don't need a visa to travel to the US, their Canadian passport is enough. Most Europeans can visit the US through a visa waiver program. Suppose they travel to a country designated by the US as a "state sponsor of terrorism" such as Cuba, they lose that eligibility and have to apply for a visa instead, meaning they are subject to more extensive checks.
Typical euro woman, why would she ask that Cuban lady at the end that question. Doesn’t she know that there are people from the state there, that former nurse can go to jail or worse, plus there is no embargo in Cuba, they trade with other countries the real problem is the government officials
I agree that was not a fair question....it did put on a spot that could cost that lady at least her job
@@carlosr944 In general, the euros are s!ck ppl. France24 was setting her up for trouble with this goofy question just for content. The know a wrong answer can send this poor woman to jail.
Capitalism works communism socialism doesn’t period
Tell it to the 1 million homeless in America, I am sure they will agree...
@@NorceCodine drugs debt playing at casinos in las Vegas nothing to do with capitalism is their money is not anyones problem.
@@NorceCodine How many of those 1 million want to switch places with the 100's of thousands who'd much rather be homeless in America than continue living in squalor and tyranny in Cuba?
@@NorceCodineso 1 in 300 is extremely poor? Still way better results than the alternative. He said it works, not that is perfect.
@@rafael_lanawell said. And the difference is that the opportunity is there for everyone under capitalism.
Give me a break. Medicines are not subject to sanctions
> That's my understanding as well. Still, the basic problem is that Cuba is BROKE! Let''s suppose they are free to buy drugs. If they have NO MONEY to pay for them, they are out of luck. And when I say out of money, I mean OUT OF DOLLARS. I'm guessing that is the issue. If sophisticated drugs grew on sugar cane plants, it would not be a problem. After the Soviet Union evaporated, there was talk of Cuba harvesting sugar cane by paying people to swing machetes, again. I wonder how close they are to doing that now?
Yeah, but medications don't grow on tree. You have to pay money - and most of the times not in Cuban peso but in US dollar - to pharmaceutical companies and they ain't cheap.
@@harrynamkoong3361it’s a genocidal terrorist regime
@@harrynamkoong3361 Most of the time? You mean all of the time, nobody that makes medicine is accepting that fake monopoly money from Cuba. Can you name a single not cuban entity willing to accept that worthless paper? I'm for real asking because I would be shocked if you can, not saying you can't simply expressing my disbelief. If they'll take Cuban "money" will they also accept real money like disney bucks?
@@AngryAmericanWizard Of course Merck or Novartis wouldn't take Cuban peso but luckily for Cubans, they do manufacture some pharmaceuticals themselves and of course they take Cuban peso as payment.
I traveled around Cuba for 3 weeks in 2018. In life I do my best to not talk negatively about anyone. But Cuba is one of the worst places in the world. I hated it.
Everyday people being hurt by foolish people in charge. SAD.
Cuban peso has been worthless for years, this is the problem.
Blame oppression and socialism
US oppression.
Blame the best friend of pedophiles and criminals in Donald Trump's 2019 order as mentioned in the report.
@@timmytrimble4069 No. Cuban government oppression.
How’s that Communism working out for you Comrade! 😂😝😆😆🤣
The country is like living in the days of the Flintstones.
Imagine a sugar rich country that can’t provide sugar? Oh but their literacy rate is high.
Who says their literacy rate is high? The Cubans? Do you believe anything they report? Also, the racism in Cuba is a throwback to Jim Crow
Did U see the scarf? The red scarf? The RED PIONEER SCARF that those girls wore? Children are the first, that they will take and "educate". They should have asked the girls, about their heroes...
There won't be a change in Cuba until the military supports that change, and the military will support that change once it starts affecting their pockets long term.
That's why Cuba does everything to make sure the military is kept fed.
One extreme left guy I used to know suggested that the world should become more like Cuba. I questioned that notion and indeed it has not gotten better over time.
Compared to Haiti, Cuba is practically paradise😅!
After seeing a 3 minute drive-through video on the national TV news, the place looks like a Trash Dump .
They could end up like Haiti
@@eliza5960 Cuba = just a politically stable Haiti.
South Africa in 2 years.
Hrleh
just wonder why a private person can do so much more than the government... bro the government doesn't care, and don't have one good idea to move forward. don't be naive French people
Honestly investigating why socialist economies fail is like investigating why people who eat a dozen burgers a day are fat.
who the hell runs cuba ?? why are they never on camera ??
Miguel Diaz-Canel.
This SLIDE into oblivian started long, long before Covid. A guy I knew loved working in Cuba at a petroleum plant (lives on Van. Island) and has for decades. Over a decade ago the food provided started being real bad, the service levels and supply of parts shot to hell. He should be retired by now, just in time.
Not tru those three ladies can go to mexico and walk into usa😂 😢
5 pesos to 200?!
Happens in Nigeria too
It's not any economy when it's propped up by other governments.
So they managed to have new taxis but all cars are still from the 1960s???????????
I been to Cuba 5 times. Cuban economy was.in a down hill slide since the 1950's . 👎👎👎👎👎👎👎
It was doing well until the Revolution screwed everything up.
Interesting clip, pretty sad situation.
Cuba could be the most spectacular island on the planet if they would just out their leaders and join the world already!!! i could be wonderful but it's a waist in stubbornness and expecting handouts.
Cubans want to get out of the regime only problem the regime does not want to leave power even if the economy has hit rock bottom.
Too late, Cuba offers no value to compete with more developed and equally beautiful Islands around it... Literally a worthless piece of land thanks to Communism.
*waste
Like Jamaica? They have been close to the US, they still poor and ravaged with crime
@@victorcano1289 Jamaica is another country that got destroyed by socialism courtesy of Michael Manley.
Im Cuban and I can tell you if the communists ruling here were able to let the people create prive business there wouldn’t be an Economic embargo cause is respecting private property of the citizens as a Right .We need a new constitution.
Actually... If the *United SNAKES* lifted their embargo... Their wouldn't be an EMBARGO. 😂😂
@@HughJass-jv2lt How do you explain in my 23 years of being born and raised in Cuba the government prohibited most of the simple things you take for granted here in the US , even make small comments like this can put you in jail in Cuba , so give me a brake .I know who the bad cop is .
No need for a new constitution; just restore the 1940 Constitution.
I hope you get it, I hope you all get a government of the people. The USA is deeply flawed I'm the first to admit that. Still compared to authoritarian regime's that get in the way of progress and development because "collectivism" we're damn near paradise.
@gregb6469 a new revolution
I believe it’s more accurate saying Cuba has a collapsed economy.
The Cuban people should be able to freely choose their leaders in open elections. The blockade isn't the main problem: it's the petrified dictatorship that isn't accountable to anyone.
Well done MSM reporting, kudos
If there was a free trade agreement between the USA and Cuba what would Cuba export to the USA ?
poverty and crime
Definitely produce.
cuban women
Cigars
@@AbhiAnand-vn4rqWell..prepare for sticker shock...Cuba raised the price of it's premium hand rolled cigars by 200--300%
in cuba they dont have sugar anymore😆😆😆
Cuba crumbled way before the so called pandemic...same way Venezuela and Argentina, slowly but surely, Argentina has hope, is Colombia next? Mexico?
Castro's economic repression and the loss of Soviet aid did far more damage to Cuba than any US sanction.
Colombia is fine and Mexico is on the verge of an enormous economical boom thanks to the diversification of production lines post pandemic. Next ones is trouble are Turkey and Egypt.
Pretty much proves the sanctions are a bit much but also that capitalism works
It really has fallen apart. I don't see as much tourists coming thru like before. People are struggling so much.
The old classic cars are a treasure. I would take that VW Bug over any lousy new EV car. Cadillacs were much better before all the technology.
Cuba was the first to take charge with a medical solution that worked when the pandemic hit.
He he he he he the Cuban economy has been crumbling for more than 50 years 😅
It's been crumbling since 1959.
I was there in October, and it was absolutely heartbreaking with them out of food everywhere . People had no bread butter for the week 4 eggs per family per month, are you kidding me… they are relying on people coming and bringing them items such as aspirins and Tylenol but they need it desperately 🇨🇦 we tried to help … gave feminine hygiene items and every dollar we had to them including our extra sandles and batteries
That lady’s response when asked if her private shop was capitalism…. It actually made me laugh out loud, and her smile when she said it made me smile bc it was one of those “I can’t say yes but… yes” smiles
Cuba has business relations with European Union, Asia and the middle east as well as African countries
Cuba has an economy? Since when?
Life for Cubans there have always been lackluster not just since the pandemic! It is also not true that rations have always been abundant. This has been going on since the beginning of the revolution. The " subsidized " food statement is also not true. Better said the ONLY food there is state run. Especially for those in Havana. Those that live in rural areas are much better off. Also, they have never been able to afford these products in the private sector. Their monthly income is about 25 to 30 pesos. They can blame their own country for that. I'm not sure this journalist has understood the big picture of Cuba and its revolution. When you have such regulation, you can only look too the communist government for answers. There's no going around it. It's all consuming. It's everywhere
Meh. This is our future in Canada. Hopefully we can get rid of Castros son soon.
Cuba 🇨🇺 🇨🇺 🇨🇺 🇨🇺 needs to convert to SOLAR w Battery 🔋 Storage for Energy....
Sure. And just where do you suppose the billions of dollars for those investments will come from? Cuba is BROKE! That means they have no money for pretty much ANYTHING.
The guy at the begining of the video is a fool!! La Libreta (the ration/ "subsidize" booklet) never worked!! Even before covid the amount of food allowed by the libreta was only enough for about three out of the four weeks of the month. I know because I grew up there in La Habana in the 1960's and 1970's. My grandmother Hortensia who used to be the cook of the family had to do "miracles" in the kitchen to enable her to feed the whole family. And most of the times we had to go to the black market to make up for the food the government ration card (because that is what la libreta was!!!!) would fail to deliver in food. We escaped in the Mariel Boatlift of 1980, and came to the US to the land of Freedom and Opportunity.
This island could be a paradise! 😶🌫️
Well done report. Thank you for your journalism.
Economic investigator Frank G Melbourne Australia is following this informative content cheers Frank 😊
I’m sure they’ll prolong the misery as long as possible.
It's Russia's responsibility to fix the problem. Cuba is their ally.
but it is western legacy media responsibility to announce the inevitable crisis in Cuba and China since 1965
It has gotten so bad that even China is starting to give up on Cuba.
I am Canadian, and have travelled a few times to Cuba (sent by my employer) and many to the USA with no problems. And BTW, my employer exports to both countries, obviously a lot more to the USA... those French tourists have been given a song and dance and/or the travel agent doesn't know what he is talking about
Canada isn't the EU.
you didnt film the back streets
what a great country the people's revolution has made of cuba 😄
According to Google, Cuba's GDP per capita stands at 56000 USD yet here I am seeing mass poverty. Can someone help explain how this is possible
I'm sure the statistics can be trusted 😂 China claims to be as happy as some nordic countries in their data too, I wonder why,must be te supreme leader smile.
The Official GDP per capita is 5,600 usd a year (unofficially is probably 2000 if not less) the Cuban government has a way with statistics it basically falsifies everything.
Cuba before 1959 had a GDP greater than that of Spain and Italy, which is why it was compared with developed countries, never with the countries of the geographical region where it is located. Today, as an attempt at consolation, even the Castro henchmen themselves compare it with Haiti, with the Brazilian favelas and in more desperate cases, with African countries. Cuba under Castro regressed to the economic levels of the early 20th century, when it had just liberated itself from Spain.
Pretty much.
Coming to a country near you
If they'd quit supporting our enemies the way they do, we'd be able to lighten up.
“Socialism evolving”? She is a counterrevolutionary.
The Cuban government needs to stop blaming the US Embargo for their problems. It is an old excuse.
WTF?. Absolutely 100% It's Totally U$A If Not The Embargo It's Another Reason But "I Don't Care Do You"
If tomorrow they do away with communism and put in a free market and Free the people of Cuba. In a month Cuba would be a paradise because the United States government would do away with the embargo on Cuba. But they live with communism and it won't change any time soon.
The only embargo going on in Cuba is that of the Cuban government against its own citizens.
@@BoscoBrown-lf2sj the embargo is not the reason ask them yourself why they have not made a single hospital or new school if there is money for making hotels restaurants and Discos there is that enough reason for you to underdtand why the embargo does not matter.
@@BoscoBrown-lf2sjhalf of the world was communist and they all had the same exact problems, despite being free to trade with each other. When your production system doesn't reward production and innovation this is the end result. Every. Single. Time.
@ $15.78 for a gal of gasoline it's insane. Might come to America.
Socialism always crumbles into despair and utter poverty.
Socialism always runs out of other people's money to spend.
Socialism cannot provide anything adequately let alone sustainably.
We can all be equally poor
2:25 Cuba doesn't normally stamp your passport unless you insist on it (they stamp a removable card they give you that you can throw away/keep in a drawer at home after you leave) to allow you to conceal the fact you visited Cuba. Sometimes you don't want to "collect them all" on your passport. You can always keep the removable card as a keepsake at home.
I’ve been thinking of Cuba 3 times this month. I usually bring Lays Potato Chips or Hershey Chocolate Bars. I can eat for free for the price of one bar or bag of chips. It’s a very sad situation.
Being mentioned in the Diddy scandal is not helping.
What a mess 😬
When the Bordello's are the foundation of the economy one knows they are in trouble.
They are all Heroes, after all these years of westerns blockade and suctions they are still exists!! I hope they find they way to a better (not as like ours in "West") World soon!
Haiti and Somalia still exist so Cuba surviving into 2024 isn't something worth bragging...
People in communist countries often find that "better world" after starving. And it's an embargo, not blockade. Huge difference
In capitalism all people are inequal, in communism all the people are equally miserable)
I So Love Cuba Miss it so much already!
Americans can go to any of our other enemies countries but not Cuba. WTF !!! We could lean a lot from other countries.
South Florida is Cuba 🇨🇺
Cuba has an economy?
As a Cuban, I hope that our country becomes free soon, and that we can have free elections, freedom of expression and free market. Patria y Vida!
Everybody equal... equally poor.
Castro has a night Yacht and a day Yacht, have you been on the day yacht :P It will change your mind about communism... How one man can work his way to the top...
That's the results of 60 years of the socialist destruction. Cuba used to be aming the richest countries in Am´´erica Latina, now is one of the poorest and most miserable
I want one of those cars
"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money." Thatcher
In Cuba's case, the Soviet aid. The free Venezuelan oil. The Canadian and European tourism. And the US remittances.
When Cubans get further into crisis the hope is that they gain the courage to overthrow their government.
Well.."..
They look happy...or else.
Under communism everything is issued by the state.....including your opinions.
Cuba = the WEF's wet dream come true.
Capitalism always beats socialism.
Reporter: Isn’t that capitalism? Shopkeeper: … …. No 😅
Economic Development (Desarrollo Economico)