Cuban government lifts 50-year ban on unrestricted car imports
Havana ends rationing of new cars, another step in loosening control over purchases of property
Cuba announced yesterday it will allow unrestricted car imports for the first time in half a century, marking the end of an era that made icons of the island's vintage automobiles.
The official newspaper Granma said the decision to allow cars to be imported for sale at market prices on the island was taken on Wednesday by Cuba's council of ministers.
It said the decision will gradually free up retail sales of all manner of vehicles - cars, vans, trucks and motorcycles - and ends the practice of granting some Cubans special permission to bring in vehicles as a privilege.
Granma acknowledged the so-called "letters of authorisation" issued by the transport ministry had generated "resentment, dissatisfaction and, in not a few cases ... [were] a source of speculation and enrichment." Holders of the letters, however, will still be first in line to buy cars while the new system is phased in, Granma said.
This eliminates the corruption that regulations and controls always spawn
The liberalising of car sales was one of more than 300 reforms put forward by President Raul Castro, who took over for his ailing brother Fidel in 2008, and approved in 2011 at a congress of the Communist Party.