In Varadero, an area declared of high interest for Cuban tourism, the granting of new authorizations will be allowed in the activity of hired worker, by artistic creators and self-employed workers who work in the plazas, as announced by the Council of Ministers in its Agreement 9045, published in the Extraordinary Official Gazette No. 42 of May 7.

The document, signed by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz, leaves without effect Agreement 8050 of the Council of Ministers, dated December 15, 2016, which regulated the operation of non-state management forms that are developed in the Varadero tourist pole, as well as their ordering and control.

Based on the experience of the application of that agreement, the document states, it is necessary to update the regulations it establishes, in addition to “allowing the granting of new authorizations in the activity of hired worker, by artistic creators and self-employed workers who work in the plazas.”

The document clarifies that new authorizations may be issued to exercise self-employment, but only in activities associated with:

(a) educational and child care;

b) care of the sick, disabled and elderly;

c) the care of public bathrooms, lockers and parks in the facilities that for these services are enabled by the state entities empowered to do so;

d) domestic services;

e) student tutoring;

f) bookkeeping;

g) the leasing of housing, rooms and spaces with exceptional authorization, as regulated by current legislation and in the procedure for the operation of non-state management forms in the Varadero Tourist Pole; and

h) to work as a contracted worker for the artistic creators of the Cuban Fund for Cultural Goods and the self-employed workers who work in the plazas.

The new agreement of the Council of Ministers, which will take effect 60 days after its publication in the Official Gazette, reminds that “in the Varadero tourist pole only the minimum indispensable forms of non-state management that are compatible with tourism or that respond to the needs of the population, or both, and that are agreed upon by the Provincial Government of Matanzas, the Ministry of Tourism and other agencies of the Central State Administration, after consultation with the Government Representative in the Hicacos Peninsula”.

It is worth noting that the previous Agreement (8050) gave way in 2017 to the approval of certain licenses in Varadero, where since August 2012 no new licenses were issued to exercise non-state work.

Also appearing in the Extraordinary Official Gazette No. 42 is Resolution 36 of the Ministry of Culture, which includes the rules for the authorization of hired workers to artistic creators of the plastic and applied arts who commercialize in the plazas of the Cuban Fund of Cultural Goods in the tourist pole of Varadero.

The legal norm specifies that the commercialization of the works in those places corresponds to the artistic creators, in their condition of holders of the sales spaces, as well as it establishes that the artistic creators can request the authorization of a hired worker, except for those who commercialize in other hotel and extra-hotel facilities, belonging, fundamentally, to the Tourism system.

The resolution, which will also enter into force 60 days after its publication in the Official Gazette, emphasizes that the presence of the hired worker in the sales spaces is so that the artistic creators can participate in events, exhibitions, national and international fairs managed or organized by the company, as well as for specific needs of artistic creation and those established in the legislation in force for self-employment.

On the other hand, the simultaneous presence of the artistic creator and the contracted worker is prohibited in the sales area “to avoid the increase of people exercising at the same time in the tourist pole”.

The resolution makes clear the procedures for the presentation and endorsement of the application, which must be submitted to the Director of the Cuban Fund of Cultural Goods in Matanzas.

The new agreement of the Council of Ministers authorizes in the tourist pole of Varadero the renewal of contracted workers requested by the holders, up to the amount allowed for artistic creators of the Cuban Fund for Cultural Goods and self-employed workers working in the plazas, and in activities such as leasing of housing, rooms and spaces, and gastronomic services in restaurants or cafeterias.

Regarding the leasing of dwellings and rooms, it is clarified that exceptionally new licenses may be authorized with the prior approval of the Intendant of the municipality of Cardenas, and after hearing the opinion of the Delegate of the Ministry of Tourism in the territory. In addition, certain requirements must be met.

The document reiterates that non-state management forms may only be exercised in the authorized areas, and recalls the prohibition to use gardens, outdoor patios, side corridors, porches or other similar areas on the outside of dwellings or other properties.

The Second Final Provision of Agreement 9045 empowers the Mayor of the municipality of Cardenas and the ministers and heads of the agencies involved to issue the legal regulations necessary to comply with the provisions.

Due to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, a dozen facilities are currently in operation in Cuba’s main sun and beach resort, in which medical personnel also remain, with the responsibility of ensuring biosecurity in each of the hotels.