English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Throughout the month of May, residents of Ávila have had bread on only two days 14ymedio, Madrid, 29 May 2026 / This May, the people of Ciego de Ávila had bread for two days. That is how extreme the situation is, acknowledged Rafael Pina Joba, Director General of the Food Industry in the province, who described … Continue reading “Flour Is Not Reaching Ciego de Ávila – and Neither Is Bread”
Next to this sign, state-owned stores display another: “We greet May 1st with efficiency and commitment.” 14ymedio, José Lassa, Havana, 18 April 2025 — In large letters, the bakery window proclaims: “Long live May 1st.” In small letters, another sign clarifies: “The bread will be delivered when the flour comes in.” That old saying, “Save bread … Continue reading “‘Bread Will Get Here When the Flour Shows Up’”
Shortages affect both the rationed and informal markets 14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 28 February 2025 — In La Timba the mornings are too quiet. In that poor neighborhood that extends a few meters from the Plaza de la Revolución in Havana, the proclamations of the street vendors who sell bread have not been heard … Continue reading ““There Is No Bread, There Is No Flour”: The Omnipresent Poster in Havana’s Shops”
14ymedio, Mercedes García, Sancti Spirítus, 11 February 2025 — The line of people extends along both sides of the street. It grows longer on one side of the street, with more people joining as the morning progresses. The scene is almost identical on the other side. Residents from different parts of the city crowd outside a … Continue reading “Cuba: Faced with a Flour Shortage, Privately Run Bakeries Are Rationing Bread”
The bread roll will go from 80 to 60 grams and its price will go from one peso to 75 centavos. 14ymedio, Havana, 13 September 2024 — With just a few hours’ notice, the Cuban government announced that starting this Friday the weight of the bread delivered as part of the basic basket will be … Continue reading “Cuban Government Reduces Weight of Regulated Bread Due to Flour Shortage”
14ymedio, Madrid, February 29, 2024 — “In Cuba there is enough flour to drown in, but the State doesn’t have any.” Everyone knows it, and María confirms it. She spends the morning sending messages to several contacts – found through social networks – to buy the raw material, with which she makes bread, pizzas, cakes … Continue reading “Cuba Has No Bread, but ‘You Can Drown in All the Flour’”
14ymedio, Havana, 23 February 2023 — The alternative that the Meat Company of Cienfuegos found to stay active is the production of sausages based on cassava, rice and cornstarch, due to the shortage of wheat and the low production of beef and pork on the Island. “We have had good results,” Luis Jiménez Marrero, an … Continue reading “Cassava Flour Ham and Soy Milk, the ‘Alternative’ Diet of Cubans”
14ymedio, Havana, 9 February 2023 — The Ceiba Citrus Company, located in Caimito, Artemisa, has bet all its cards on the construction of a new cassava flour factory. However, despite the investment required by the plant, its managers cannot guarantee that the harvest of the tuber on the Island will live up to their expectations. … Continue reading “In the Absence of Wheat, Artemisa Will Have a Cassava Flour Factory”
14ymedio, Havana, 13 January 2023 — Bread bakers in Sancti Spiritus must plan for blackouts and, though wood-fired ovens would solve their problems, they do not see this as a realistic option and are more inclined towards solar panels. This was made clear by an article in the state-run newspaper Escambray about the poor quality of … Continue reading “Cuban Bakers’ Challenge: Making Bread from Low-Quality Yeast and Flour”
14ymedio, Havana, 25 October 2022 — Bread didn’t reach the tables of Cuban families in several municipalities in the provinces of Guantánamo and Holguín last week. The lack of flour and fuel prevented companies from accomplishing the production needed to guarantee supplies. In Guantánamo, the director of the Food Industry, Albis Hernández Díaz, recognized that … Continue reading “Bread Making is Slowed Down by a Shortage of Flour and Fuel”
14ymedio, Havana, 31 August 2022 — The shortage of wheat flour in Cuba, with the consequent increase in the price of bread and cookies on the market, has quickly reached its critical point. In addition to the difficulties in making the products, there is the absence of an effective mechanism for the import of the … Continue reading “Instead of Facilitating the Import of Flour, the Cuban Government Lashes Out Against the ‘Resellers’”
14ymedio, Havana, 26 August 2021 — After a year of flour shortage in Cuba, the Government announced this Thursday the launch of a project on the Isle of Youth to obtain breadfruit flour. The objective is to obtain this raw material to have greater availability or, directly to replace the wheat flour used in the … Continue reading “Breadfruit Tree Proposed to Relieve Shortage of Flour in Cuba”
EFE / 14ymedio, Havana, 23 April 2021 — On Thursday, Cuba received a donation of food sent by Russia through the representation of the World Food Program (WFP) on the island, at a time of serious problems with supplies on the island. The donation, which includes 253 tons of oil and 430 tons of wheat … Continue reading “Russia Sends Cuba 253 Tons of Oil and 430 of Tons of Wheat Flour”
Iván García, 9 May 2019 — Around the mid-1990s, the cohort of official reporters taking the leap into unrestricted journalism in Cuba had — besides experience and media training — the privilege of typewriters at their disposal. Those just starting out in the world’s best occupation were hand-writing their articles in school notebooks. Newbies would … Continue reading “Independent Journalism In Cuba: Flourishing But Underfunded / Ivan Garcia”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 4 January 2019 — The old recipes from the Special Period are back in fashion. The lack of flour has led state-owned bakeries to turn to yams, private confectioners opt for recipes with yucca, and more than one family invents some substitute in order to have breakfast. The shortage of flour has … Continue reading “Substituting Yam, Yucca, and Cuban Ingenuity for Flour”