The provincial government claims there is enough food to go around but the ration stores beg to differ
14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, 18 September 2024 – The flies circulating around the counter of the Calle Gloria bodega — the ration store — are witnesses to the fact that the regulated family ration basket has not yet arrived. September is nearly over and although the province’s interior commerce authorities give assurances that there are enough stocks to ensure distribution, in the actual ration shops themselves it’s the opposite that is obviously the case.
Alfredo, retired, 68, asks if anything has arrived yet, knowing full well in advance what the shop’s answer will be. “I don’t know what these people are thinking. It’s not enough for them that they remove some of the products from the baskets, but then they only distribute them when and if they can be bothered. Obviously, none of those bosses need a ration book to survive”, he says. But his experience is very different because he only gets 1,800 pesos in his pension each month.
There’s room in the shop to store what has been announced – for each person 7 pounds of rice, 2 pounds of sugar, 10 ounces of peas, 4 boxes of cigars and tobacco – none of which anyone believes can be maintained in the months to come. “Especially for those of us at the bottom who have to put up with hunger. When I finally actually see the two tins of sardines that they promised us over-65’s, then I’ll believe it”, Alfredo adds.
“The basic basket hardly lasts a week, so what happens then?”
The pensioner refers to the new free food batch which the government has promised for the vulnerable – the elderly, pregnant women, under-weight people – who, apart from receiving sardines will get rice and peas. “They’re laughing in our faces, because actually most of the population are ’vulnerable’. The basic ration hardly lasts you a week, so what happens then?”, he says. In his opinion, these freebies only go to turn the distributors, warehouses, and others charged with delivery, automatically into retailers, making money on the back of everyone’s current misery.
The empty shelves are confirmation that any “glory” only exists in the actual name of the street – Calle Gloria – in which the shop sits, because the place itself is practically in ruins. “The shelving is full of termites and the roof leaks whenever it rains, but no one in power seems to care anything about the decline that’s happening everywhere”, says Xiomara, who hears that her son’s yoghurt will arrive after 2pm.
“The other problem is that there’s no guarantee about the quality or the stability of the foodstuffs. We’re still waiting for the July, August and September salt supplies. They tell us that they won’t remove that like they did with the cooking oil, eggs and coffee. The administration of this nation has no respect for its people, but tells us we live in a socialist country. And the worst thing is that as they keep crushing us with shortages of every possible kind we keep on playing their game of keeping our mouths shut”, the Cienfuegera adds.
On the store’s counter, sits a filthy box with a QR code, the only evidence of banking activity in the place. “They can’t provide a petty cash service, because, as there are no products to sell, they don’t actually have any cash. And until recently, there were difficulties with the automated system so they didn’t accept payment by bank transfer either”, says Xiomara.
“It won’t be long before the ration books disappear. We shan’t miss them too much because they’re already impractical”, says Alfredo, expressing a fear that is becoming more and more common in Cuba.
Translated by Ricardo Recluso
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