The allocation of food items from the standard family basket is a topic of utmost concern for millions of families in Cuba due to widespread food shortages and rampant inflation.
In the early hours of the morning, the unloading and distribution of a ship loaded with rice docked at the Guillermón Moncada port in Santiago de Cuba began. The operation is part of the process to deliver the four pounds of rice outstanding for the month of March to the eastern provinces.
The government has arranged for the direct shipment of the cereal to more than 1.100 warehouses in Santiago, where it will be shipped to consumers as soon as it arrives. Authorities assure that the outlets will not close until all customers have purchased it.
However, this new phase of distribution has raised more questions than answers. Although the information was confirmed at local government meetings in Guantánamo and other provinces, in many areas consumers report that they still haven't even received their February rice.
While authorities talk about moving forward with the distribution of coffee, oil, children's cookies, powdered milk, and compote in rural areas, thousands of Cubans on social media are denouncing the disarray, delays, and widespread misinformation. Some small markets still lack the minimum conditions for preserving the products. In many others, they claim that the rice has arrived, but it has been sold for 10 pesos per pound or has not been distributed equitably.
The delivery of potatoes imported from Matanzas has also resumed, arriving by rail in boxes directly to Santiago markets. However, in other municipalities in the eastern part of the country, potatoes have still not arrived or are arriving in insufficient quantities.
Some Cubans lament the announcements of deliveries of compotes and eggs for pregnant women, but the distribution of basic products such as rice and sugar has not been fulfilled. Salt, for example, for the March-April-May quarter, has not yet been delivered to several warehouses.
Consumer opinions:
In the comments collected by our media, the public's discontent is evident:
—“That’s not news, it’s a play for this new kind of ministry. Saying isn’t doing.”
— “When I get to Pilón it will be at the end of the month. They always say the same thing, and we're still waiting.”
— “In Mayabeque, they haven’t even given us February’s figures. And when will they give us Havana?”
— “Rice is free at my store, while others sell it for 10 pesos. Which one is correct?”
—“The black bag has more food than the bodegas. Who’s responsible for that?”
— “A pound of rice costs 250, chicken costs 400, and cooking oil costs 1.500. How does someone earning 1.528 in retirement live?”
— “The winemakers in my area are excellent, but if nothing comes in, what can they do?”
— “There are meetings and detours, but no one offers solutions. More of the same without real answers.”
Distrust of the distribution system and the decline in purchasing power mark the pulse of a crisis that, far from improving, continues to worsen. For many, living off the grocery store's errands is no longer enough.
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Let us know what you think:
15 comments
I believe that the shortage of chicken and rice with chicken is not the issue, but rather the distribution of these products, and that each territory imposes its own measures. It seems to me that the guidelines should come from the ministry, regardless of the powers that the territories have. It cannot be the case that rice arrives as a donation and there are places where the consumer is charged, and this is happening very frequently.
Everything is being talked about and the patients who have AIDS and those in Oncology with cancer who should have their food back have had everything taken away from them until when the lies and when those patients will receive their diet.
In San Miguel del Padrón, San Francisco de Paula, only one box of cigars in December, and to top it all off, the Tupamaro because everyone complained and no cigars have ever been brought in, and in San Pedro Cotorro, cigars every month, and in Guanabo, I don't understand anything, they are throwing away cigars and selling them every time this country goes backwards, and they are filling their pockets with cigars. Inquire at the bodega de las Piedras.
How is it possible that oil, rice, and chicken have a price cap and continue to sell them at whatever price they want? And for what reason? Throughout Havana, they sell 4 boxes of cigarettes per consumer, but in Boyeros, they only sell 3 boxes. The same thing always happens: they sell one box less than in other municipalities.
Since before the pandemic, there has been no basic food basket in Cuba because a little bit of rice and peas with meat included do not feed anyone. Thank you for the effort, but it is impossible to live and not become bored.
I am from Songo, the Maya in some winery was given the Marso sugar and the other winery that if They say that there is a sugar mill producing sugar why does this happen
For Cerro la Habana when no one has entered in March
I'd like to know why it's taking so long to deliver basic food products after announcing it even on social media.
What will become of our children, of our elderly, without food? May God give us many blessings to continue forward and endure everything that is happening in Cuba and believe and think that things will improve, although I doubt it.
For the province of Las Tunas, in Majibacoa, the potatoes we have eaten are a hundred and something, nothing has arrived at the markets, the same as last year, the few we were able to buy were expensive, thank you.
The ration book is a mockery. Children over two are given milk whenever they want, white milk, not every month. Toiletries, coffee, beans (which Balinese children call "chic" or "chicharos"), and other things are evaporated, but in black bags, there's everything... with 1528 a month. What do I do?
This food situation in the people is worse than a life sentence. In that case, they feed you; in this case, you starve to death.
When the full sugar arrived in the Cuban warehouses it would have remained at two pounds and no one said anything and just like the bread in the basic basket
I wonder how much sugar arrives at the warehouse. The government doesn't have enough to sell it in the warehouses, and the resellers here in my town have it at 300 a pound.
For Mayabeque when