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A paperless event to “celebrate”

For:  Serge Angel

January 11, 2022

00:00 / 05:14

(Mincin) on December 18, it was announced that, as a result of the delays in the importation of the raw material for the preparation of the supply books for the year 2022, the available lines of the month of January and February of the notebooks of the year 2021.


And although the announcement is for the population of the western and central provinces, it is eloquent in the face of what the year 2022 will be in terms of supply; something paradoxical if one takes into account that next March 12 marks the 60th anniversary of the enactment of Law 1015 of 1962, which gave rise to the creation of the "Supply Control Book" .


It is difficult to speak of a celebration when in reality what is commemorated is not the supply of the population, but its control, that is, the exact moment in which, through a provision of the Council of Ministers, the National Board for the Distribution of of Food and this, making use of its powers, established the first food regulation measures for Cubans, sentencing what would be the following years of rationing.


Under the euphemism of "year of planning" (year 1962) -and the fact is that the regime lives on euphemisms that are in no way compatible with reality- the National Board for the distribution of food announced at its first meeting on March 13 of 1962, what would be the rationed products and what would be the procedure for the acquisition of these through the passbook.


What began as a measure to "improve the distribution of supplies" ended up becoming a state policy that through food controls the population in the most intimate. The regime got into each of the homes and abruptly came to control what each family could eat and the products with which they could clean themselves. In the blink of an eye, the board's provisions established measures for the entire country, for 26 cities and for Greater Havana (see image 1. Distribution of rationed items).


It was not a minor justified decision in the shortage of those who could buy compared to those who were marginalized, it was a deliberate measure to
register each person residing on the island through a person who would act as "head of the family" and who would register all the members of the family nucleus so that the paterfamilias
"Revolutionary State" could "guarantee supply."


In reality, there was no profit, what there was was a tremendous loss, not only had the freedom to buy been lost -of those who could and those who couldn't-, but also
lost the freedom of not being controlled by an ideological apparatus such as the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR).
Surveillance body that from that moment acquired teeth and increased its ability to watch the neighbors, both those committed to the Revolution, as well as those "confused" or counterrevolutionaries (see image 2. How to obtain the notebook).


The lack of paper for the preparation of notebooks is nothing more than a metaphor for the control to which the people are subjected. Without many alternatives, families will have to write down in the months of January and February 2021 what they will consume at the beginning of the year, hoping that  The Mincin keeps its word and on January 30 delivers the 2022 notebooks so that everything returns to the "abnormality" in which it has lived since 1962.

AND

AND

n a note published by the Ministry of Domestic Trade 

Captura de Pantalla 2022-03-07 a la(s) 8.46.33 p. m..png

Read all of Sergio Angel's columns on the Food Monitor Program HERE

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