In communist Cuba, capitalists become an economic lifeline

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A modern grocery store, whose shelves are filled with everything from pasta to wine, fills a space in central Havana that was once occupied by a drab state flower shop, its ceilings and walls repaired and repainted.

A former state-owned glass company in a Havana suburb now houses a showroom for a private company that sells furniture made in Cuba.

And at the port of the Cuban capital, forklifts carefully unload American eggs from a refrigerated container. The eggs are destined for a private online supermarket which, like Amazon Fresh, offers home delivery.

These ventures are part of an explosion of thousands of private companies that have opened in recent years in Cuba, a notable change in a country where such companies were not allowed and where Fidel Castro came to power leading a communist revolution determined to eliminate capitalist notions like private property.

But today Cuba faces its worst financial crisis in decades, driven by government inefficiency and mismanagement and a decades-long U.S. economic embargo that has led to a collapse in domestic production, rising inflation, constant power outages and shortages. of fuel, meat and other necessities.

So the island's communist leaders are turning back the clock and embracing private ent...
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