Yaser Gonzalez Cabrera

Yaser Gonzalez Cabrera is the Havana bike-tour entrepreneur whose story anchors Dark times for Cuba’s economic experiment. The Planet Money episode says he runs City Cleta, a bicycle business that once served roughly 400 tourists a month but had only about 25 customers in the prior year and no paying customers so far in the year covered by the episode.

Yaser’s role is to translate Cuba’s political economy into daily experience. The source follows his voice notes because ordinary calls and internet access are unreliable, then uses his worries about blackouts, fuel shortages, rural family electricity access, and lost income to show how Oil Dependency Blackout Risk and Tourism-Dependent Small Economy reach households.

The episode’s hopeful note also comes through Yaser. Even without paying customers, he keeps organizing free biking events, trying to keep cycling visible as community practice rather than only a fallback during fuel shortages.

Connections

• City Cleta - bike-tour company he runs.
• Havana and Cuba - local and national context.
• Tourism-Dependent Small Economy - why the collapse of visitors matters for his livelihood.
• Oil Dependency Blackout Risk - daily energy stress affecting communication, movement, and work.