Budget cuts, mismanagement, and a lack of transparency hinder local development in Pinar del Río

A drastic cut in territorial contribution funds jeopardizes local development projects and restricts “the maneuverability that municipal governments once had” in Pinar del Río, where poor planning, inefficient use of resources, and lack of transparency further exacerbate the crisis.

According to the Budget Law for 2025, municipalities will receive only 10% of the territorial contribution derived from 1% of the revenues of state and private entities, while the remaining 90% is centralized without reaching the localities directly.

The reduction leaves municipalities like Mantua with around one million pesos available and seriously jeopardizes the execution of social and economic-productive projects, warned the official newspaper Granma.

In concrete numbers: of the 150 million pesos that the province used to manage annually, in 2025 it will have only about 42 million. Half will go to the provincial capital, while the remaining 10 municipalities will have to share what is left.

According to Calex Edilio González, coordinator of programs and objectives of the Provincial Government, there are projects that have been waiting for funding for years because the amounts raised are insufficient.

Beyond the budget cuts, the use of these funds has been far from efficient. Regarding the failed restoration of the Pedro Saidén cinema - closed for nearly two decades - Granma noted in May 2017 that it should become a major cultural complex that would include a piano bar, event halls, and other services, with a total capacity for over 600 people.

"Eight years later, Saidén still has no inauguration date, and the substantial resources invested in the project remain immobilized, serving no purpose," the official organ of the Communist Party of Cuba now admitted.

Despite some specific social initiatives driven by these resources, productive projects capable of generating sustainable income remain the exception.

Of the more than 200 projects approved in 15 years, only 35 were financed with the 1% contribution, and about twenty had an economic-productive focus. Most of the funds end up covering current expenses and maintenance of social facilities, a strategy that addresses real problems but “does not generate development,” acknowledged Jesús Gorgoy, director of Territorial Development in the Provincial Government.

Misuse is compounded by questionable decisions: in Viñales, for example, more than four million pesos were not spent in 2024. Meanwhile, public funds have been allocated to paint shopping centers occupied by private businesses, which should cover their own maintenance, the source noted.

Inefficiency also persists in the execution of projects such as the fruit and vegetable processing mini-industry at the Oscar Sánchez Ozuna cooperative in the municipality of Pinar del Río, which was set to commence in 2024.

Initially valued at around 10 million pesos, "more financing had to be injected in 2025 because the delays in the execution schedule caused the budget calculations to no longer align with the current prices of materials."

According to Granma, the real impact of the cuts in funding will be felt in 2026, when municipalities like Viñales will go from managing six million to just two million, which is insufficient for large-scale projects.

Despite official calls to promote local income to increase the available amounts, the current economic conditions and the lack of a long-term strategy make effective recovery unlikely. Additionally, there is a lack of transparency: the Territorial Development Directorate did not provide Granma with details about successful projects, the money generated, or the problems they have solved.

Without clear figures, with dwindling funds and recurring mistakes such as delays, shoddy work, and planning failures, the so-called "contribution to local development" gets lost among unfulfilled promises, poorly defined priorities, and a planning process that continues to ignore the real urgencies of the country.

Since, at the end of 2021, the Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel declared the increase of competencies for municipalities as one of his priorities, the central power of the regime seeks to hold local entities accountable for ensuring that Cubans' basic needs are met.

Díaz-Canel has emphasized the local production of food as a solution to the current food crisis facing the country, characterized by high prices and a shortage of supply in stores and markets.

In April, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz acknowledged that “the most certain thing we will have in each territory is what we are capable of producing with our own efforts,” during an assessment of the implementation of the Law on Food Sovereignty and Food and Nutritional Security.

These statements reinforce the official narrative of appealing to solutions at the municipal level, while maintaining strict control over the markets and hindering decentralized solutions or genuine private participation.

In September 2024, a business owner in Santiago de Cuba reported the high percentage that the Cuban regime retains from each sale made by micro, small, and medium enterprises (mipymes) and self-employed workers (TCP). According to this individual, the authorities require the inclusion of a “10% increase on each sale, plus 1% for local development, 1.5% for tax payments, and 1% for the ACDAM,” which totals a 13.5% that the Cuban government retains from each commercial transaction.

Frequently Asked Questions about Local Development in Pinar del Río and Its Challenges