Ministry of Transport
Republic of Cuba

About us

  • Emergence

    On January 1, 1959, a cell of the 26th of July Revolutionary Movement occupied the offices of the National Transportation Corporation, located on L Street No. 352 between 21st and 23rd in Vedado. Days later, on January 14, the Commander of the Revolution, Julio Camacho Aguilera, was appointed Intervening Delegate of said Corporation and shortly afterward, appointed Minister in charge of this organization. On August 1, 1961, by Law 960, the Ministry of Transportation of the Republic of Cuba was created. Its creation responded to the need for a single policy in the sector and the transition to an immediate organizational process that would guarantee the satisfaction of a growing demand for transportation, both for cargo and passengers. The new Organization was in charge of the study, programming, direction, improvement, and execution of the Revolutionary Government's policy about transportation.

  • Mission

    The Ministry of Transport (MITRANS) is an agency of the Central State Administration, subordinate to the Council of Ministers. As the governing body of the activity, it exercises the governing functions in transport for the other agencies of the Central State Administration. Its mission is to direct, execute, and control the State and Government policy regarding land, sea, river, and lake transport, infrastructure, auxiliary and related services, and civil maritime navigation. To offer a safe transport system that meets demand, is respectful of the environment, and at the highest efficiency level for the national economy, society, and international trade.

  • Functions

    The Ministry of Transport (MITRANS) is currently the Central State Administration Agency in charge of proposing, and once approved, directing and controlling the State and Government policy on land, sea, river, lake, and air transport, including its infrastructure and auxiliary and related services, to meet the needs of public interest. Its functions include:

    1. Directing the development policy and the provision of land, air, sea, lake, and river transport services, and auxiliary and related services, both within the national territory and internationally, by the rules of international law;
    2. Establishing and approving, together with the bodies and agencies of the Central State Administration, the rules and plans that promote the participation and use of the different systems and means of transport in the traffic where they are most rational for the country's economy, without prejudice to their respective competences;
    3. To establish, within its competence, the regulations and technical standards for the acquisition, maintenance, partial or major repair, technical modifications, manufacture, operation, control, and decommissioning of the means of transport and other equipment of the different transport services, by the characteristics of the road, air, sea, lake and river systems, environmental protection and other aspects of a general nature;
    4. To exercise, within the framework of its competence, aeronautical, maritime, river, and lake authority. It is the governing body in road, motor, and rail transport activities, at the national level, over state and non-state third parties, as well as before the international community;
    5. To grant, limit, modify, suspend, or cancel licenses, permits, and certificates of aptitude, for the provision of any transport service and auxiliary and related services, by the state and non-state sector of the economy, in the national territory, by the established procedures;
    6. To regulate and control the standards and conditions for the safety of land, air, sea, river, and lake transport, civil maritime and air navigation; issue the corresponding certificates and dictate any safety measures deemed necessary to prevent accidents in the various transportation systems; participate or arrange, within its area of ​​competence, search and rescue operations, according to the Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue System of the Republic of Cuba;
    7. Regulate the operation of the commissions of inquiry into railway safety incidents, maritime incidents or accidents, and air accidents that have occurred in the national territory, by established national and international standards, as well as determine the participation of the national bodies, agencies, and entities that it considers necessary;
    8. Apply and control, in the different means of transport and their facilities, the use of communications systems, global positioning and signaling for infrastructure, as well as the use of the radio spectrum in the bands assigned to civil aviation and maritime navigation, according to the legal provisions in force regarding telecommunications;
    9. Regulate and control the services of civil maritime and air navigation, and the exploitation or operation of the activities and technical services of ports, airports, stations, terminals, loading and unloading centers, and other transport facilities;
    10. Regulate and control the planning, projection, construction, maintenance, rehabilitation, and conservation of roads, site strips, railways and right-of-way and development strips, ports, airports, and their security zones or adjacent to these; grant, modify, or deny permits and licenses in this regard; as well as establish easements, conditions, and requirements, by the established procedure;
    11. Establish and control the technical standards and conditions for freight and passenger transportation services, as well as regulations on the development, investments, and logistics of the means and infrastructure of transportation;
    12. Exercise state inspection and control in transportation; and impose violations, sanctions, and penalties on carriers or operators for failing to comply with regulations in force in the country or those internationally applicable in Cuba;
    13. Establish the classification of land routes, ports, airfields, airports, maritime routes, airways, and other transportation facilities; issue, modify or cancel the authorization and certification of operation for ports and marinas, airfields, airports, stations, terminals, loading and unloading centers, and other transportation facilities, according to the function they perform, by the norms of national and international law;
    14. Control and execute the process of registration or updating of the assets, rights, licenses, and permits that are registered in the registries under its charge; issue the corresponding certifications, by the registration procedures that are established; and approve the regulations for the operation of these registries that are its responsibility;
    15. Regulate the participation of the different national and foreign airlines in Cuban air transportation, and other foreign carriers in transportation activities within the national territory; and
    16. To direct, regulate, and supervise civil air traffic in national airspace and within the Flight Information Region assigned to the Republic of Cuba by the International Civil Aviation Organization.