English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 18 January 2021 — Antonio’s face, after walking through several streets of Centro Habana this Sunday looking for bread without success, sums up his fatigue and disappointment. “What is happening is terrible,” he laments. “I don’t know if there is no flour or no oil, but the truth is that … Continue reading “Not at 45 Pesos, Not Even at 50 Pesos: There is No Bread in Havana”
Iván García, 28 January 2019 – When they saw that a ramshackle GAZ 52 Soviet-era truck was parked at the entrance to the Monaco market, in the neighborhood of La Víbora, south of Havana, and began unloading boxes of eggs, a long line quickly formed. The crowd, made up of housewives, retirees, workers in the area … Continue reading “Cuba: Constitutional Referendum, Food Shortage And Social Unrest / Ivan Garcia”
14ymedio, Marcelo Hernandez, Havana, 27 December 2018 – Few products have been talked about as much on the social networks this last week of the year in Cuba than that of bread. The long lines outside the state bakeries and the poor quality of this rationed food have filled the walls of Facebook, Twitter timelines … Continue reading “Bread Is ‘Stolen’ At The End Of The Year”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, December 11, 2018 — The breakdown of mills and the lack of cash flow that Cuba is experiencing have combined to exacerbate the shortage of flour, as was confirmed this Monday by the Minister of the Food Industry, Iris Quiñones Rojas. The small amount of the product that remains on the … Continue reading “Cuba Only Has Enough Flour for the Rationed Bread”
14ymedio, Zunilda Mata, Havana, November 18, 2018 — First eggs went missing, then it was sugar’s turn, and now it’s wheat flour that has been added to the list of products that are lacking in Cuban markets. The valuable ingredient is the basis of many recipes that are sold in private businesses, like sweets, breads, … Continue reading “Flour Shortage Affects Thousands of Private Businesses in Cuba”
14ymedio, Carlos A. Torres Fleites, Santa Clara, 15 February 2018 — Since Florentino Cárdenas began selling medicinal herbs two decades ago, he has never seen the demand like in recent months. His clientele in the city of Santa Clara has been growing in sync with the rate at which pharmacies are running out of medicines. More than … Continue reading “"Neither Witch Nor Swindler," Florentino Eases Medicine Shortages in Santa Clara”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 4 September 2015 — I just wanted to reach Carlos III Avenue. Pass quickly through Infanta Street, avoiding the propped up arcades, to catch a collective taxi and go home. This street, named for royalty, is too woven into the memories of my childhood not to lament every pothole, every sewer leak draining … Continue reading ““You Have To Eat A Bread That Has Dignity” / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez”
HAVANA, Cuba, October, www.cubanet.org – Part of the population of Guanabo, east of Havana, spent two days without bread — an essential food in the current Cuban diet — being available off the ration book, because of a quarrel among bakers, including injuries and the breaking of the gas lines to the ovens, which needed … Continue reading “Our Daily Bread: Stolen Today / Reinaldo Emilio Cosano Alen”
14ymedio, Madrid, 17 October 2023 — The Island’s mills have stopped since the last shipment of wheat arrived in July, according to the authorities, who are now celebrating the arrival of 23,500 tons “from Europe,” with which 16,000 tons of flour can be produced. The first deputy minister of the Food Industry, Mercedes López Acea, … Continue reading “The First Shipment of Wheat Since July Arrives in Cuba”
Eggs cost 3,500 pesos per carton of 30 in the informal market, compared to 2,000 a year ago 14ymedio, Havana, 14 April 2024 — In the ’80s, when the Soviet subsidy had created the mirage of prosperity in Cuba, in primary schools, along with names and mockery for physical appearance, it was common to insult … Continue reading “In Cuba One Egg, a Common Food, Now Costs More Than the Daily Pension of a Retiree”
EFE/14ymedio, 5 April 2024, Havana — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, blamed the “recrudescence” of the United States’ economic embargo, this Thursday, for the “difficult situation” in the delivery of subsidized products through the ration card. The president dedicated the second episode of the program Desde la Presidencia – broadcast on YouTube – to the “difficulties” in acquiring, … Continue reading “Cuba Blames the US for the Instability in the Delivery of Subsidized Food”
14ymedio, Havana, 12 March 2024 — Changing Cuban eating habits, with an emphasis on health and local availability, at the same time the country is experiencing a food shortage is the aim of a nutritional education project sponsored since 2017 by the Spanish-French entrepreneur María Paco. “People often laugh when I talk about diversifying the … Continue reading “Learning to Eat Healthy in Cuba, Where Everything Is in Short Supply”
14ymedio, Havana, 14 March 2024 — The balance sheet for Internal Trade in Cuba for 2023, published by the Government this Wednesday, provided only one statistic for the sector: 70% of the construction materials delivery plan was met. The rest of the meeting consisted of an accumulation of “enigmatic formulations, abundant exhortations, a drought of … Continue reading “Economist Pedro Monreal Points Out a ‘Statistical Blackout’ in Official Cuban Data”
14ymedio, Madrid, 1 March 2024 — It has been two days since the Spanish agency EFE released the news that Cuba had asked, for the first time in history, for help from the United Nations World Food Program in the face of the milk shortage, but the Government still does not say a single word. … Continue reading “Cuba Buys 500 Tons of Powdered Milk From the United States”
14ymedio, Madrid, 26 January 2024 — The Cuban Government announced on Thursday the increase in tariffs for the import of cigars, cigarettes, rum and other alcoholic beverages. For all these products, the general rate becomes 30%, while for countries considered a “favored nation” it will be 15%. In both cases, the percentage is tripled, since … Continue reading “Taxes Triple on Imported Tobacco and Alcohol in Cuba”
