Though replacing provincial leaders is something that happens fairly regularly, the sheer number of party cadres who have been removed from office recently suggests that top military officials are concerned about something.
14ymedio, Miguel Alejandro Hayes, Miami, May 2, 2024 — Something is going on up there. Over a dozen senior officials have been removed from office so far this year. Prominent on the list are party officials and governors in Havana, Santiago de Cuba, Matanzas, Holguín, Las Tunas and Cienfuegos.
The reason could be an issue common to each case that was of concern to the military leadership running the country. And considering that this elite group is motivated by money as well as the power to make even more money, one can surmise what interests the officials who were sacked may have been hindering.
The most important economic change that occurred in Cuba recently was the legalization of small businesses. Though these can be either private or state-owned, it is the former that predominate.
This change in the domestic economy has reduced economic centralization. Since they were legalized in 2021, small and medium-sized private businesses (MSMEs) have contracted with state agencies to purchase materials and resources, lease real estate, deliver goods and provide services. These formal business alliances come under the heading of Local Development Projects (PDLs). All of this is happening in a cooperative fashion, as public-private partnerships in which the “public” consists, to a large degree, of provincial governments and party officials.
MSMEs have gained greater economic importance and now play a larger strategic role in l
