The abundance of scarcity
For: German Quintero
January 04, 2022
precariousness for the Cuban population. For December 31 of last year, the government distributed rum and cigarettes to the entire population, assuming that rum and cigarettes would alleviate the situation of discontent. The government did not take into account that an important part of the population, not only children and pregnant mothers, does not consume rum or cigarettes, either because they are not part of their consumption habits, or simply because the products are of poor quality. .
These state courtesies, obtained in the warehouse through the Booklet, were resold at more than five times the value established by the regime. Last week, independent media denounced the fines imposed on citizens who wanted to resell products that they did not consume in order to complement a fragile basic basket, lacking eggs and milk, but full of cigarettes and poor quality rum.
The year 2021 will be remembered as one of the most difficult for Cuban citizens in terms of consumption, after the Special Period. Tourism income and remittances were strongly affected by the tightening of some of the embargo measures, of the health measures to mitigate the pandemic and, above all, by the spectacular failure of the regime's administrative management, which since the implementation of the Ordering Task at the beginning of that year, where in addition to not promoting domestic production, unifying the Cuban peso with the CUC, promoting the MLC and ignoring the situation of the international market, it was unable to meet the import quota and implemented sufficient measures to maintain or increase internal production. Cuba's economic crisis and the scarcity of goods is largely due to this implementation, which also had the misfortune of coinciding with the rise in international prices of consumer goods and a spiral of prices that shot up and moved away out of reach many foods that were obtained in foreign currency.
For the sample, a button: the levels of fishing -affirmed government officials- would not return to those of three decades ago . The fishing laws of 1996 and the most recent of 2020 still do not have the necessary tools to be able to bring fish to the tables of Cubans. How is it possible that on an island, which has not only the sea but also important river sources, it is not easy to procure fish? How is it explained that there is an overexploitation of fishing resources on the island, but there is a shortage of this food? According to official sources, the annual per capita consumption of fish was 16 kg; today it barely reaches 3.8 kg. In short, following official data, each person in Cuba eats about 300 grams of fish per month.
This year's forecast is no better than 2021: Going into 2022, essential foods continue to be in short supply and the prices of inputs such as beef, pork, rice, milk, butter and beans are rising. The concern among the population is widespread: some people seek solutions through the rituals of "feeding the land" of the Santeros, while others prepare social mobilizations that echo the cries of "we are hungry" and "freedom" of the 11J demonstrations. Added to this is the massive migration of many of the political dissidents who have been forced to leave the country due to the pressures to which the political regime has subjected them.
The panorama of economic crisis in Cuba and the consequent food crisis will be one of the greatest challenges to be faced for this year. The 13% drop in the Gross Domestic Product during 2020 and 2021, as well as the reduction in tourism issues, will be important burdens that will make a dent in the food supply. For now, ordinary Cubans will continue to have to trade rum and cigarettes for basic necessities.
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he year 2021 has ended with a situation of extreme
Faced with the possibility of another social outbreak, the government response has been the surgical allocation of available food resources, in places with a history of "civil disobedience" that are prone to anti-government protests or riots resulting from citizen discontent and frustration. .The most "problematic" communities are "beneficiaries" of this preventive policy of differentiated food distribution in what constitutes not only an act of administrative redistribution but also a kind of propaganda maneuver carefully managed by municipal and provincial authorities.
The products that are usually offered in these places with relative frequency (mostly weekends) are: yogurt, hash, chicken, bologna, hot dogs, some agricultural products and eggs. These products are sold at relatively affordable prices and in a moderate amount, sometimes shifts are given to avoid crowds and they are distributed by nucleus (administrative unit included in the ration card, equivalent to a family).
In the planning of this allocation system, administrative authorities, local producer entities, commercial and gastronomy units and a few select private producers who have special contracts with the State and supply agricultural products and some agricultural derivatives, depending on the case, participate.
The citizens of these communities perceive these allocations as "very beneficial" for their family support, and generally understand the political nature of this differentiated management system, but as some have told us "you have to take advantage of what appears."Although, in all cases, it is true that these communities are also the least favored in terms of purchasing power and the availability of family economic resources to sustain themselves adequately, it is evident that the measure responds more to political motivations than to market logic or to some kind of territorial economic planning. One of the ways we have to confirm this certainty is that the State has placed special emphasis on the distribution of food in these places on significant dates or on the eve of important political events for the territory, such as visits by state government authorities, celebrations , political events or delicate moments at the national level, product of social discontent and the economic crisis.
The practice of using food as a social support mechanism is not new in the Cuban system, but given the current situation of famine that citizens are going through, inflation and the lack of prospects for improvement in the short or medium term, this mechanism it constitutes a survival maneuver that actually contributes to prolonging the structural crisis from which collectivism will not be able to emerge unscathed.
Within the marginalized communities, the problem of hunger is tangible in the streets and the few gastronomic establishments that remain open only have products on offer that are in low demand and that the population does not consume. It is unknown if this micro-assignment program is here to stay or if it is just a temporary measure given the complexity of the situation at the moment.Although it is not possible to allude to the "complicity" of the population with this type of measures, since in reality many do need these allowances to get through the month, I think it is pertinent to say that consumers will continue to participate in these administratively coordinated strategies of predictably as long as they do not have other stable sources of supplies that contribute to meeting their food demands. Economic uncertainty is also a mechanism of psychological and political coercion, as long as the consumer-citizen remains in a state of legal and social defenselessness, very little can be done to change this reality.
Read all of German Quintero's columns on the Food Monitor Program HERE