Prime Minister warns that imports of luxury cars will be controlled
14ymedio, Havana, 18 July 2024 — A black and white, 650-horsepower Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 parked in front of a shabby house in El Guaso, Guantánamo. A brand-new Rubicon jeep moving through the outskirts of Morón, in Ciego de Ávila. A brand-new Mercedes-Benz, which a soldier “on foot” looks at in amazement as he turns a corner in Havana where someone has painted a sign: “Fidel among us.”
“They are on board,” said Prime Minister Manuel Marrero on Wednesday, referring to the owners of luxury cars. “Haven’t they realized that the gasoline in Cuba is not good for that?” he concluded, in a joking tone, before launching a warning: “There are some cars that are coming in that are really not compatible with our society, they are not necessary, and we have to limit the amount based on the interests of the country.”
In Cuba, known around the world for its vintage cars – actually survivors of a shortage of parts and vehicles after 1959 – there are hundreds of luxury cars in circulation, as confirmed by car enthusiast groups on Facebook. They started out as “diplomatic” cars, since only embassy personnel drove vehicles of that c