By: Santiago Romero, MSc.
“Since the beginning of the systematic meetings of the Party and the Government with the different new economic actors, the information flows better and with it the understanding and the recognition that we are all Cubans and subjected to the same regime of the blockade of the government of the United States against Cuba”, I recently pointed out in a chronicle on the new economic actors.
I even promised a follow-up on the subject, as it is now that many understand better that the blockade does exist against Cuba, it is like an automaton that cancels transactions, deceives the customer, misleads the attention of potential markets or not, steals and even uses all kinds of technology against anyone or anything that is of this firm nation that sails sovereign, independent and demands respect for its right to self-determination.
Precisely, from the first exchanges between the representatives of the Small, Medium and Large Enterprises (MSMEs) and the self-employed workers (TCP) with the authorities of this province, the blockade issue stood out, not because the agenda of the day included it, no, but by pure will of the new economic actors from Santiago, victims of deceit, betrayal, manipulations and even lack of respect in business with certain entities from the United States, Europe and even Asia.
Just for saying, “I am Cuban or I want the merchandise to be deposited in Mariel and sent -directly- to Santiago de Cuba”. Immediately, subterfuges appear such as: “No, you have to wait”, and the one who arrived later than you is prioritized, in short, it is just a prelude to an unexpected story.
The most terrible were the examples heard, but none more deceptive than going out to negotiate, and that everything flowed quickly with transparency, without any doubt of payments, transfers of the merchandise, that they enabled you the possibility of tracking the product, with its respective bar code, series, folio, delivery number, net weight, time of shipment, the same all the data of the ship, its scales seen in real time, on line, until the exact time of arrival in Cuba, disembarkation and placement in the warehouse.
So far so good, apparently controlled and safe, but…
The drama begins…
A detail causes a deadly unexpected dramatic twist: when you are in Cuba, at the foot of the inventory and after tracking the merchandise, minute by minute, they tell you calmly: “Yes, that is the enumeration, the code, the series, the net weight of the product, etc., but… this merchandise is not in your name, nor of your particular company, but of another client and he is not a Cuban!
In that minute, the representative of the Santiago de Cuba MSME is stupefied, you do not understand anything, because there is hardly an answer for you, your merchandise was never shipped, it does not appear in any record and all the image that you believed to be true, real, was pure cyber deceit, and goodbye to the huge amount of money that the whole supposed business cost, because no trace will appear on the internet, neither via WhatsApp, nor with renegotiations, because you were swindled with the use of a very complicated and diabolical network, call it “mafia” or “piracy” in the 21st century. Just for saying that you are Cuban or the merchandise goes to Cuba.
