Minister of Domestic Trade Faces National Assembly in Tense Meeting

Six months after the tense exchange between the president of the National Assembly of People's Power (ANPP), Esteban Lazo Hernández, and the head of the Ministry of Domestic Trade (MINCIN), Betsy Díaz Velázquez, another face-to-face meeting on Tuesday once again showcased the palpable tension between these two leaders.

The meeting was convened to present the MINCIN’s accountability report to the ANPP, which will be debated by the deputies during the upcoming regular session. According to a report from the Cuban National Television News (NTV), the document is public and will be available on the digital and institutional sites of MINCIN and ANPP, “so that everyone has the opportunity to access its content, evaluate it, and express their considerations.”

With the report in hand, the deputies will assess the ministry’s performance in areas such as popular gastronomy, care for vulnerable populations, crime prevention, and other topics. “We toured all provinces, had the chance to engage with various business systems, and also with the deputies of the commissions involved,” noted Díaz Velázquez, acknowledging that the government's failure to deliver basic food basket products remains the “primary concern” of the populace.

Under the scrutinizing gaze of Lazo Hernández, the minister admitted that her ministry had set “certain commitments that we can say are not all fulfilled today, but we have the rest of the year to achieve them.” Efforts are ongoing to “improve domestic trade in Cuba,” recognizing the “persistent dissatisfaction” and “physical fuel limitations,” but applauding “the effort made to ensure essential products reach the people.” This is how accountability is reported to the deputies of the Cuban regime.

“The ships that are there and cannot unload, the unfinished distribution, the transfers, and so on. Workers continue their efforts distributing without electricity, using alternative means when a vehicle becomes available,” the minister stammered during the meeting.

Regarding the basic food basket, her explanation became even more convoluted. “I think we need to communicate this to our people,” she said, before attempting to clarify “this.” “While the basket does not arrive on the first day of each month as everyone dreams and aspires… because we have discussed this extensively with the population, and they say: ‘but you said the basket was here, and it wasn’t.’ Yes, the basket is here! What happens is that the scenario where the basket was available on the first day in the store is no longer the case.”

Upon hearing this, Lazo Hernández’s scrutinizing look returned, reminiscent of the December 2023 exchange that became emblematic of the “continuity” alongside the ANPP president’s remark: "May we not be swallowed by capitalism, girl!"

Trained in these tense exchanges, the minister concluded her explanation about the basic food basket, if one could call her rambling of incoherent statements mixed with vague promises an explanation. “And when we say the basket is within the month, we are referring to a period that, given the variables we face, the country’s imports, and the arrival of products, we can guarantee the product is there.”

According to the official media and its reporter, Lizet Márquez Gómez, the MINCIN’s accountability report is expected to initiate a broad movement to strengthen daily work, identify key challenges and solutions, as well as untapped potential.

No real news emerged, except for the usual propaganda highlighting the incompetence typical of the regime’s political bureaucracy. That, and the exchange of glances between two “Titans” of Miguel Díaz-Canel’s “continuity,” who could not attend the meeting as he was “collecting orders.”