The crisis does not distinguish species
October 07 of 2022
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n the midst of the serious food crisis that is going through
the country at the moment, the stores in MLC(Freely Convertible Currency)that offer products at prohibitive prices, in a currency to which ordinary people do not have access, have also suffered the ravages of shortages and shortages.
Throughout the municipality of Cienfuegos, for several days, it has only been possible to find two types of hash for sale at 1.75 MLC (500 g.) and 12.63 MLC (3Kg.) respectively. These meat products are found in the "Fresh products at discounted prices" section and have been put there, very surely, because consumers have stated that the products have been sold to the population in poor condition and semi-decomposed, due to the lack of refrigeration caused by the constant power cuts that occur, in some cases, with very little margin for the recovery of the goods that require the cold chain for their conservation, that is, they are sold before they are damaged and therefore that's on sale.
The state has not yielded to the demands of citizens to sell these products in national currency when they are close to their expiration date, preferring that in many cases they be lost before selling them in the currency in which the majority of Cubans they get their salary. Just to have an idea, at the moment in our town the MLC has a value of 205 Cuban pesos in the informal market, which is where this currency is obtained by the population. Taking into account that the average salary in the country is 3,800 Cuban pesos, which today represents 18 MLC at the current exchange price, it is practically impossible for the worker to purchase these products, since a month's salary would be enough to buy only one package. of minced meat of 3 Kg leaving the family to survive the rest of the month with only 5.37 MLC.
Empty shelves and refrigerators, merchandise in poor condition, the price of which is still too high for the population, the government's refusal to make access to those meat products more flexible, which are in high demand because there are no other alternative options, and the constant power cuts. that threaten the quality and conservation of food, are part of the desolate panorama that the battered national supply network presents today.
The official discourse insists on transferring the responsibility of the daily problems to the United States government, to the private producer and to the "hoarders", alienating itself from reality and reinforcing the ideological propaganda in all the informative spaces of the national state media. . In the midst of this scenario, insecurity and hunger seem to have come to stay in post-"ordering" Cuba.
The packages of state measures, designed to alleviate the crisis, have had no effect on the structural problems that afflict the collectivist system. The purchasing power of the Cuban peso decreases every day and families find themselves under economic pressure that they have not experienced since the so-called "special period." The carton of eggs already reaches 1,200 pesos in the municipality and everything indicates that the price will continue to rise as inflation increases. Eggs have been the most common source of protein in Cuba since the 1990s, but right now it is a luxury that only a few families can afford. The truth is that while the rulers ask the population for Numantine resistance in the face of the structural crisis from which Cuban socialism will not be able to emerge, no concrete strategy has been made public to overcome the current situation.