Manuel Marrero warns that "we have to get on top of" the private sector.

The Prime Minister of Cuba, Manuel Marrero Cruz, warned the self-employed and owners of Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (Mipymes) that the government will crack down on them, as they only conduct business for “personal benefit”.

For the communist leader, those who seek profit in their businesses are not welcome in socialist society. “Those who produce and generate income, welcome. Those we have to crack down on are those who do it for personal benefit; we must ensure that prices are affordable day by day, not just at fairs,” said Marrero Cruz in front of the members of the National Assembly of People’s Power (ANPP).

In the same intervention, he commented that the goal is to strengthen government control: “We have to assert the role of governments. We want to stimulate the market; to sell, but to sell at fair prices.”

Marrero and all the parliamentarians who applauded him seem to forget that the state-owned stores in Freely Convertible Currency (MLC) are the first establishments where essential products are sold with an average profit of 240%.