A Cuban woman took to social media this Sunday to express her outrage after being charged 1,000 pesos for a trip from Alamar to Matanzas by a driver using a state vehicle and government-provided fuel. Omara Suárez Santana, a resident of Havana, denounced the incident on Facebook, calling it a robbery: "And no one can tell me otherwise, the first scammers are the state drivers who abuse the population."
"We are in this situation because no one stops these scams," Suárez stated in her post, highlighting that such practices are common on weekends when many state drivers use government resources for their private affairs.
In her complaint, Suárez mentioned she took photos of the involved vehicle but regretted not capturing the driver's face. However, she did note that she has the car's license plate number and plans to send the evidence to various ministries, beginning with the Ministry of Transport, to urge authorities to take action.
Growing Discontent Among Citizens
The transport situation in Cuba continues to deteriorate, and these types of complaints reflect the increasing frustration among citizens who depend on state transportation, which leaves more people stranded each day.
In July, the Cuban government acknowledged the transport crisis, revealing that more than half of the provincial routes are paralyzed, as reported during a session of the Cuban Parliament. Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, Minister of Transport (Mitrans), disclosed that by the end of April, 52% of the routes operated by provincial transport companies were out of service, according to the state-run newspaper Granma.
Government Acknowledgment and Excuses
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel himself has admitted the disastrous state of transportation in Cuba, yet he claimed it is linked to the global crisis. During his YouTube program ‘Desde la Presidencia,’ which he hosts, Díaz-Canel stated that the sector is experiencing the "worst times in recent years."
A recent example of this was the complete halt of public transportation in the province of Pinar del Río due to a fuel shortage.