Cuba withdraws tariffs and limits on the importation of food and medicine

Travelers arriving in Cuba will be able to bring unlimited food, toiletries and medicines without paying customs taxes from next week, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero announced on Wednesday, at a time of extreme scarcity and social unrest that triggered a unprecedented wave of protests throughout the country.

The exceptional measure, approved urgently with a resolution of the Ministry of Finance and Prices, will come into effect next Monday and will remain in force until at least December 31, announced the number two of the executive chaired by Miguel Díaz-Canel.

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The announcement comes after a series of protests in various parts of the country, the largest in six decades, in which part of the protesters expressed their dissatisfaction with the Government over the shortage of food, hygiene products and medicines, as well as other problems like the power cuts or the lack of freedoms.

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The legislation in force in Cuba on the importation of luggage consists of a complex system of points and weight limits that establishes tariffs on excess items brought by travelers.

In the case of medicines, up to 10 kilograms is allowed into the country.

As of Monday, all these restrictions will be eliminated at the entry points to Cuba except at the airports of Cayo Coco and Varadero, according to the prime minister.

Protesters hold a poster against the Cuban government in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Wednesday, July 14, 2021.AP Photo / Victor R. Caivano

The effect of this measure is expected to be limited, at least in the short term, since due to the pandemic, international flights operating from Cuba are limited to a few a week, part of them on the Havana-Madrid route. and connections with neighboring countries such as the United States, Mexico and Panama are reduced to a minimum.

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Cuba has seen its endemic economic crisis worsen with the pandemic -which has left the tourism sector under minimums-, the economic sanctions imposed by the US during the past Donald Trump Administration and internal shock measures of questionable efficiency, among other factors.

Thus, food, hygiene products and medicines have become increasingly scarce in recent months, in which the number of flights has also been drastically reduced and therefore the amount of items brought from abroad by individuals, which in many cases they were sold on the Cuban black market.

Precisely the shortage of basic products, together with the continuous power cuts, pushed the residents of San Antonio de los Baños (18 miles east of Havana) to take to the streets to demand change, which spurred similar protests in dozens from towns throughout Cuba, with numerous clashes and arrests.

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Campaigns were launched from Cuba and abroad at the beginning of this month to collect medicines and find ways to send them to the island, which is also suffering its worst coronavirus outbreak with a record of infected and deceased every week. 

With information from EFE and the Miami Herald.