"We never leave anything without taking it out, everything is taken out here, everything is taken out, everything is taken out, nothing is left in the cellar here"
HERE IS EVERYTHING
Louis Thiemann, PhD candidate in development studies at the International Institute of Social Studies de la Erasmus University Rotterdam. He works on issues related to the political economy of food, class theory, among others...
Who in your family usually does the shopping at the grocery store?
Well, my husband does the shopping in my store, he's the one who goes every month to run errands.
Do you buy other “controlled”, “regulated” or “regulated” products? for this system?
Through this supply book system, we buy products from the warehouse and once a month in the local currency store, which used to be in CUC, now in national currency, we buy chicken, detergent and oil; that's the same for the notebook there once a month.
What products from the supply book do you consume most frequently? Do you leave any without removing in the month?
From the basic food basket, what we consume the most is rice and beans, and we never leave anything untaken, everything is taken out here, everything is taken out, everything is taken out, nothing is left in the cellar here. Nothing is going to be returned to the State here, in short, that does not return to the State, but hey, you and I know how things are, here nothing is left anywhere, everything for your house.
How much of your formal income does the monthly purchase of the products in the notebook represent? Do you consider that your ability to acquire them has been affected since the monetary reform?
This monthly purchase of products from the supply book represents 6% of our income. And, I do consider that my purchasing power has been affected since the monetary reform, before with less than 100 pesos we used to buy 3 people's errands here, now we need more than 400 pesos.
How many days of the month would you say that the basic products of the notebook are enough for the family?
We could say that these products last approximately 12 days, that is, they are enough for me for 12 days, an average more or less 12, 15. In my case, the rice lasts for me at the end of the month, because we do not consume that much rice, or be the children eat little rice. Here the one who eats the most is Jose and he doesn't have lunch here, since he works he has lunch at his job. But hey, the beans last a week, the coffee more or less 15 days, because I don't strain in the afternoon, I just do it in the morning, it lasts a little longer for me, there are those who last less. The chicken is 2 to 3 meals, if you distribute it in portions, here the chicken is divided into portions, and well, you distribute it and well, more or less you get 2 to 3 meals. The picadillo per child is enough for 1 meal, the oil for 10 to 12 days because that doesn't last any longer, and it lasts for me from 10 to 12 days, because I don't get cold that much, because Jose doesn't eat fried foods, because we take care of ourselves, because I try not to eat excess fat, anyway, but there are those who don't get it after 12 days, at least it gets to me, but there are those who don't.
Does any member of your family receive a special diet?
Table 1: Annual harvest before and during the current crisis, in thousands of tons. Source: ONEI, Statistical Yearbook 2020.
Why do food distribution difficulties persist in warehouses?
For certain products (for example, rice and meat) the collapse in production during the last 3-4 years is certainly a significant factor in stopping delays in the distribution of some of the items in the booklet. Most of the book's products, however, are imported, so their distribution depends on a centralized chain of activities rather than the “self-organized chaos” behind the societal markets. without inside information it is difficult to say at which particular point the distribution chain breaks. Although Cuba can buy food from anywhere in the world - including the US - Cuban state companies do not honor payments for orders they have already received, so many of its trading partners prefer receive cash payment in advance. Since the flow of money and oil received from Venezuela has decreased from its highest point between 2013 and 2014, and since the crisis generated by the pandemic collapsed the tourism sector and the receipt of remittances, the Cuban state will surely It is having cash flow problems, which means that there are fewer imports and that the supply of food from abroad is more erratic. This particularly affects the supply of the notebook. Once the products arrive at the port, the next big difficulty is in the transportation infrastructure. There are often malfunctions in key processing structures (such as the wheat mills in Havana), AND storage capacities are often insufficient, especially for perishables. the emblematic example of this year is that even the paper on which the notebooks are printed did not arrive on time.
Finally, the low wages paid throughout the food distribution system generate a series of significant “losses” as warehouse and transportation workers, as well as storekeepers, “take their share”._cc781905-5cde-3194-bb3b- 136bad5cf58d_ Regardless of whether we believe that this “spontaneous privatization” is legitimate or not, we must recognize that few workers would continue to go to their jobs every morning if they only obtained their salaries and legal incentives. According to estimates made by Carmelo Mesa-Lago, real wages in 2019 were still less than half the 1989 level and have surely fallen considerably given inflation that has outpaced wage increases during 2020-1.
In structural terms, it is necessary to observe the poor state of the food distribution system used by the MINCIN between stores and warehouses – in other words, the state food system in Cuban pesos-. The difference between supermarkets and stores could not be more striking, and not only in terms of food. The refrigeration units, information technology and secure warehouses required to make the work carried out by MINCIN more efficient have been massively acquired to supply MINFAR supermarkets. This difference is also evident in the human resources sector.
How has the monetary union affected access to food by purchase for Cuban citizens?
The key question has to do with whether inflation has outpaced wage increases or whether wages have managed to outpace inflation. ONEI data indicates that State salaries increased from 1,200 Cuban pesos (CUP) in 2020 to 3,934 Cup in 2021 – an increase of 228%. Inflation has grown faster, although in a different way for certain products (including many of the foods produced by small producers) whose prices have increased between 2 and 3 times, while others (such as electricity rates and inputs agricultural) have increased up to 20 times their value. The value of remittances, on the other hand, has remained stable – a momentous reshuffling of purchasing power between households that have members in the Diaspora and those that do not. In this particular matter, the current crisis that has its causes in several factors that include, but should not be reduced to, COVID 19, has a substantial difference compared to the "Special Period": Cuba's food system receives several billion dollars (USD) in remittances annually, but access to food has become much more inequitable in a short period of time.
The biggest problem, from my point of view, is that the changes in monetary policy have not managed to solve the problem towards which they were directed: the double exchange rate that privileges some economic actors . State companies that have access to the official exchange rate of 1:24 still have access to dollars at a much lower price than what private citizens and companies could get, who by January 2022 paid between 80-85 per dollar at the rate of casual change. Many producers perceive the dual currency system to be a greater inhibitor today than it was two or five years ago, given the increasing amount of inputs they must buy in MLC, while still selling in CUP.
Which is thereason fundamental of food distribution in Cuba at the territorial level? Why is there a relative scarcity of certain products at the territorial level? What is the justification for the unequal provision of food for the tourism sector and the population in general?
Tourism, of course, is a sector in which Cuba competes directly with other destinations and the fact that tourists eat better than Cubans is only the problem. The problem also persists when tourists return to their places of origin and return to the abundance of their supermarkets.
In relation to food consumption, however, tourists represent a very small part. In 2019, only one in 130 people in Cuba was a tourist. Tourists may have consumed large amounts of lobster, aged rum, and meat (although most of these items were consumed by Cuba's upper-middle and upper-middle classes) but this does not explain food shortages in other settings. When producers are allowed to sell in the tourism sector, they use these profits to secure their investments in the land and are able to maintain their production for sale on the local market.
The Cuban case is usually treated with a certain exceptionalism, but I think it makes sense to think of this case as "another case" in the Global South. Chronic food shortages in many poor countries and the Cuban economy has declined to the point where it fits that description. In fact, if Cuba had not lost a significant part of the population due to desperate emigration, producing a diaspora that – surprisingly – could be located in the richest countries, the quantity and quality of food that Cuba could import would be much less. As in other countries, study access to food: why is it available to some and not to others, why do some have to wait days in line while others can purchase the same products through of a credit card and three clicks requires inquiring about power relations and the dynamics that exist between capitalism and the State. Despite what we believe, Cuba is not very different compared to other countries in this regard.
What are the similarities of the current situation of food crisis in Cuba with those presented during the Special Period? What position does the State assume in the way it handles food crises?
As previously stated, today there is much more foreign currency in Cuba than 30 years ago, and there are more economic subsystems that process this (inequitable) flow of currency aimed at obtaining food and other goods, as well as profits, salaries and taxes. Similarly, there is now more food (and of better quality) than in the 1994-1996 period, despite the fact that import and export volumes have fallen since 2014 and that domestic production has largely stagnated since late 1990s. The state's position, however, has changed drastically. In the 1990s, the state focused mainly on the “paternal responsibilities” it had accumulated since the Soviet era, and to a certain extent allowed the population to fend for itself by tolerating what we might call “productive illegalities” that were committed in order to produce food: from raising pigs in bathtubs to the existence of a large black market that encouraged food production and distribution in the countryside. Currently, the State seeks to focus on two contradictory objectives at the same time: On the one hand, its paternal façade, which seeks to alleviate the greatest crises of scarcity and inequities through rations. On the other hand, a business machine - or, rather, corporate - that profits from scarcity by selling food at high prices - both "at the door" for commercial establishments, and in the "back room" for the black market. We have to remember that most of the imported food that appears on the black market (accentuating its absence in stores) also originates from state companies.
Many observations can be made in relation to this complex situation. A novel element that struck me personally is the way in which the new online food sales platforms (military or private companies that sell food held in Cuban warehouses, or even food that is about to arrive imported from the United States) take advantage of the experience of scarcity and malnutrition in their advertising. The promotional emails I receive urge me to "Buy imported food and take my family's face [of finding it in Cuba]", "Don't miss the opportunity to buy imported food that now guarantees breakfasts, lunches, snacks and desserts in Cuba”, “Buy now and guarantee Christmas and New Year dinner for your loved ones, before it is too late” and so on – this is a new, and I think controversial, dimension of how the crisis is unfolding and the way in which the State manages it. I assume this controversy will continue to be a crucial point of political contention for years to come: the way the post-socialist state justifies the costs of maintaining powerful economic monopolies – in the public interest – if it uses them for its own benefit. , mixing social objectives with corporate profits.
Read all interviews on Food Monitor Program HERE