“He’s paternalistic, you’re paternalistic, I’m paternalistic,” screeched the Communist party newspaper Granma in a column by its editor, Làzaro Barredo Medina, after a month of public debate on ending gratuities and modernising the Cuban economy.

The tone caught the frustration felt by officials after the Cuban Communist party’s effort to foster self-critical public debate concluded last week with every indication it had become mired in confusion.