14ymedio, Havana, 25 December 2023 — They started popping up, little by little at the beginning of the year, without all the attendant publicity the official media usually gives to these sorts of places. Establishments that were once state-owned, that closed after languishing for years, have reopened overnight as mipymes (a Spanish acronym for micro, small and medium-sized businesses, or MSMEs in English).
Well-stocked stores, restaurants with good food, tastefully decorated boutique hotels. None of this would be strange in any place else of the world. On the contrary, it would be an excellent indication of the solid state of an economy that is committed to private initiative and the prosperity of small businesses. But Cuba is not just any place, and the issue is multi-faceted.
First, there is the opacity. Normally, if the state wanted to sell or rent out a property to an MSME, it would solicit bids. This is what Cuban law, specifically a resolution adopted in April 2022, requires but the government has done little to publicize it. This lack of transparency has fueled a lot of suspicion. Who owns these businesses and how did they get them? How were the new owners chosen if they did not have connections in the highest echelons of power?
Home Deli, a store that has three Havana locations, is owned by an Italian, Andrea Gallina, and his
