The dilemma Cubans face every day is that whatever they can afford doesn’t exist, and whatever does exist they can’t afford.
14ymedio, Havana, Juan Diego Rodríguez, May 13, 2026 – The old state-run bodega next to the market at 19 and B, in Havana’s Vedado district, has never really been able to compete with the bustling produce market. Well stocked with every kind of fruit and vegetable, the market stands in stark contrast to the shop reserved for ration-book purchases, which has increasingly become the very symbol of the country’s shortages.
When, at the end of December 2023, the private home-delivery business Zona K’liente set up shop in half of the premises, the contrasts became even sharper. But never to the extent seen now, as the crisis has worsened due to the fuel shortage and the ration-market stores have been left completely empty.
Meanwhile, not only is the small private business Zona K’liente thriving, but so are the stalls in the adjacent market.
This Tuesday — the first day of the week when the market at 19 and B reopens after the Sunday and Monday break — the shelves contained only a tiny quantity of fruit purée, intended for children up to two years old in each household. Empty of products, but not of slogans. “We Are Continuity,” “Thinking as a Country,” are some of the phrases written in capital letters across the front of the green-painted counter, as if big, strident lettering were enough to feed people.
Meanwhile, not only is the small private business Zona K’liente thriving, but so are the stalls in the neighboring market. Prices*, however, are another matter. Imported mandarins at 1,500 pesos a pound, soursop at 1,000, red cabbage at 2,000, pork leg at 950, a single mamey fruit at 400 pesos…
Both places lay bare the dilemma ordinary Cubans face every day just to survive: whatever they can afford doesn’t exist, and whatever does exist they cannot afford.
*Translator’s note: The monthly retirement benefit in Cuba is roughly about 3,000 to 4,000 pesos a month.
Translated by GH
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