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"This has been done throughout the country because the situation is quite critical, but in Havana there is more benefit, in other provinces there is more irregularity." To be able to buy I have sold things from the house Mireya Lopez She is 61 years old, lives with her daughter and two minor grandchildren in La Víbora. Who in your family usually does the shopping at the grocery store? In my family, my daughter and I mostly buy the winery. Do you buy other “controlled”, “regulated” or “regulated” products by this system? Through this system, the regulated products for the basic basket are acquired. The controlled and regulated ones are obtained in the different stores assigned by Popular Councils, after presenting the famous supply book. Here for everything you have to show your supply booklet and identity card because, in addition to not being able to buy in any store, you can't buy when you want either. The products are regulated by nucleus, 5 kg of chicken must come every 16 days, picadillo and hotdogs 2 units every 8 days, cigarettes 1 wheel every 5 days, oil 2 liters every 16 days or 1 gallon once a month, detergent 1 kg every 15 days and if it is bags of more than 1 kg once a month, etc., but this is different in each region, municipality or area. Here for everything you have to show your supply book and identity card because, in addition to not being able to buy in any store, you can't buy when you want either. These products are regulated in theory every that time, but it is not that you take them in that time. For example, I managed to buy oil on July 22 and I didn't buy oil until mid-October because it came and ran out. They have done this throughout the country because the situation is quite critical, but in Havana there is more benefit, in other provinces there is more irregularity. In the case of these reinforcement products, there is also their replay. In each establishment there are 3 or 4 people, mostly women, identified under the LCC (Fight Against Coleros) program, these people check your notebook, scan your identity card, regulate your access, your turns to buy. But they have their business too, they have friends and contacts whose documents are not scanned and they buy and buy these reinforcement products and then resell them. It's not just them, this is a process that I can tell you about, because the boss of these people is a soldier, from the MININT in each establishment, who is also sometimes corrupt. What products from the supply book do you consume most frequently? Do you leave any without removing in the month? What is consumed the most from the notebook is rice, oil, sugar and beans. I do not leave any product untaken because what I do not consume I give away . 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? It represents the full salary my daughter earns and more. We really manage to be able to buy because we do private jobs and because we receive help from family members abroad. Otherwise, we would not be able to buy even the basic basket because we also have to assume household expenses that have also risen in price: electricity, gas, etc. How many days of the month would you say that the basic products of the notebook are enough for the family? The products of the notebook hardly reach about 15 days. Does any member of your family receive a special diet? No, no one has a special diet. Do you exchange, buy, resell or give away any of the products assigned to you? I give away some products that I don't consume, to my mom or to someone who needs them. Do you think that the family diet could survive without the notebook? It's just that with the notebook I don't think anyone can live for a month. Generally, you have to be buying expensive products in stores or with resellers [people who are dedicated to the black market, buy in state establishments and resell the merchandise at a higher price for their profit]. If they delivered more released products, do you think you could pay for them with your income and that it would be a positive change or would you prefer more subsidies? With my income I cannot afford expensive products. To be able to buy what I need I have had to sell things from the house, clothes that are left for the children, etc. plus what my family sends me. To be able to buy what I need I have had to sell things from the house, clothes that are left for the children, etc. Do you consider that the products assigned by the supply book condition the way you prepare food? Not at all. Have you received any donation or external product at subsidized prices during the Covid19 period for the passbook? Can you describe it, as well as its origin? During all this time we have received a single free donation with the following products: 4 kg of rice, 1 kg of sugar, 1 kg of beans, 3 kg of spaghetti. Those products were in the month of September. Now in October came 1/2 lb of beans per person only. Any other observation? What is clear is that our diet is not the best, not balanced at all, and I can assure you that it is the same with the vast majority of the people. Here we have spent these two very difficult years, I had never seen myself like this, not even in the famous Special Period. My daughter and I spent many days on bread with oil and salt to guarantee protein for the children because we couldn't get anything in the stores. Later we started buying in the black bag but it didn't count, so I decided to go at dawn to mark in the queue to guarantee something and that cost me 2000 pesos fines on 2 occasions without being able to claim anything. The saddest thing is that both times it was in Ayestarán, in the only place in Havana where they sell yogurt every day to guarantee breakfast for my grandson, more than anything because of the problems he has, but they don't care about anything. They fine those who buy for their consumption and nothing happens to resellers Read all interviews on Food Monitor Program HERE

Como lo anota la investigadora Claudia González, en su columna de la semana pasada, la situación de Cuba no solo es un vertiginoso... 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. AND AND he year 2021 has ended with a situation of extreme 00:00 / 05:12 Read all of German Quintero's columns on the Food Monitor Program HERE

Pero la memoria alimentaria representa mucho más que nuestras evocaciones inmediatas. Puede explicar el devenir de un país, los diversos comportamientos de su sociedad... From “material stimulus” to “food blackmail” For: claudia gonzalez January 18, 2022 D D ince the 1960s there has been discussion in Cuba about the relevance of labor stimulation. Initially, it was committed to the validity within Marxism, of accounting autonomy, self-financing and the system of material incentives. A staunch critic of this trend was Ernesto Guevara, who strongly discouraged the use of methods that he considered inherited from the past. Instead, Guevara promoted moral encouragement, the mere satisfaction of duty fulfilled before the construction of Socialism. The ethical value of the stimulus was circumscribed in the rigorous and trench atmosphere, which called for exemplary production, for the sake of "decisive effort". After the failure of the Ten Million Zafra, however, the Soviet system was adopted, which already used binding calculations between workers' remuneration and the quantity and quality of their work . First it was the delivery of Soviet-made household appliances (TVs, fans, irons), then Chinese (like bicycles in the 1990s). From the trade with the ALBA governments and, above all, from the export of medical, technical and sports services, the labor stimulus consisted of a percent of what the workplace earned in foreign currency. These incentives were not granted to all positions, but depended on the capacities of each ministry. In this way, they had more presence in those self-funded centers that generated profits (from the production or export of products and services), as well as in "strategic" centers linked to the upper echelons of the Communist Party of Cuba and the Government. In recent years, however, we have seen the gradual disappearance of material products, for others of food, consisting of chicken boxes, sausages, eggs or cooking oil, among other basic consumer products. Food is nowadays the most common stimuli to reward the work of the state worker, especially among medical, technical, sports personnel, etc. For example, Cuban athletes who received decorations at the Pan American qualifying event, held in Guadalajara, Mexico in 2021, were received in Cuba by representatives of the local government, with food combos that included cakes, cooking oil, sausages and vegetables. . If the stimuli are actions to promote the potential of the individual, food deliveries in Cuba have been the slow transition towards the impoverishment of this social mechanism, to the point of being almost a government survival device. The food has happened like this, to try to fit a salary system that does not fulfill the role that it responds to; Due to the real value of its content, it would be, perhaps, closer to the conception of the Guevarian moral stimulus. So, if the stimuli are intended to raise the worker's self-esteem, it is unfortunate that basic consumer products are proposed as such, and are even desired by their recipients. At a time of chronic shortages, the partial state delivery of food also creates an important social differentiation for citizens who are prevented from this access. The government is aware of the existing food insecurity, and part of this to control and condition militancy in key sectors "stimulating" with products that should be common, daily to all its citizens. 1 00:00 / 08:12 Read all the columns of Claudia González in Food Monitor Program HERE

Los revendedores y el resto del mercado negro, presumen de un abastecimiento que burla al mercado estatal y no imponen ningún tipo de regulación de compra, con este pretexto imponen precios desorbitantes que no tiene control ni competencia... 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. AND AND he year 2021 has ended with a situation of extreme 1/1 The article only came to make "official" a reality that  was already evident at the popular level, months ago self-employed workers have had difficulty accessing the purchase of wheat flour, for what bread and other derivatives  have become luxury products.  One of the main issues aired in street debates is the difficulty of mothers to provide their children  at least two loaves a day, one at breakfast  and another at snack time, an equation that is complicated for those who have more than one child at school age.  These  families, who usually supplemented the scarce supply of standardized bread, with what they could purchase through the network of state or private bakeries, have been limited  by the price increase. Today a bag of eight or ten loaves oscillates  between 180 and 350 cups without the supply remaining stable. Although the price in state bakeries is lower, the stability of the product is subject to scheduled power cuts and the supply of flour. In addition, the lines to buy this product   can reach up to five hours, an unthinkable time for people who have to comply with work hours. Teresa is an 80-year-old retiree, lives alone and ensures that her diet basically consists of bread and milk, two products that are currently difficult to access. Until recently, he bought bread at the bakery near his home, but  according to him, the queues have become  unbearable and some end up with the intervention of the police due to to violent fights. On some occasions, he waited for the resellers and bought the same bread for a slightly higher price, still affordable to his checkbook, however, with the shortages of the last few days and the inspectors' stalking, the price has skyrocketed and now he barely survives with the bread from the cellar. 1/1 One loaf a day was the minimum food that low-income people on the island could aspire to. It was also the rationality to which each member of the family nucleus “had the right”, which is popularly “played by the winery”. Since the monetary rearrangement policy, regulated bread ceased to be a product subsidized by the State and its price increased ten times, without this implying an improvement in quality. This condition has placed a wide range of population in greater vulnerability, increasingly deprived of economic resources. According to figures  revealed in the 2021 Statistical Yearbook, published  by the National Statistics Office  the number of beneficiaries and information (ONEI) of social assistance shot up in 2021 by 111% [two] , which means that more Cubans have joined the list of extreme poverty and completely depend on the State to survive.  This can be verified  when walking the streets of Havana , where the number of people begging in the doorways or "diving" in the garbage tanks in search of food and other necessary supplies is increasing. 1/1 The repeated power cuts that occur throughout the country show other damage caused by this energy crisis. Some time ago, the quality of the food that arrives at state outlets, smaller than normal, acidic or simply  absent, has further diminished. Although the issue is not new, the fuel crisis also affects the transfer to the points of sale, an action that is often carried out without the minimum hygienic-sanitary conditions, so the bread is transferred and stored in dirty spaces, exposed to insects. and humidity.    Contrasted with all this is the existence of a functional market that gains more space in the lives of those with relatives abroad. In online mode and offering a wide range of products that are scarce in the rest of the freely convertible currency (MLC) stores or in the almost extinct stores in Cuban pesos (CUP), there are hypermarkets such asSupermarket23 eitherMallHavana , where they offer a way to acquire quality bread, in the variety that the customer wants and without quantity limitations. Accessing these products on a regular basis is unthinkable for ordinary Cubans, however some self-employed workers, owners of paladares, restaurants or rental houses report that on occasions they have been forced to access this market in search of bread. as the only alternative to scarcity and to avoid having to close their businesses permanently. 1/1 Igualmente, las carnicerías, charcuterías, panaderías, dulcerías entre otros establecimientos particulares que son abastecidos con productos nacionales, y que también venden en pesos cubanos, se han convertido en lujos para los bolsillos de la mayoría de la población isleña. Los precios de la carne, el pescado, los lácteos, panes y galletas, dulces y otras producciones de pequeñas empresas y fincas pecuarias particulares, se ha vuelto una opción pagable solo para personas que manejan monedas extranjeras o ganan en MLC. A pesar de que estos productos son ofertados en pesos cubanos, sus valores son referentes al cambio que maneje el mercado informal sobre el dólar americano, el euro y el MLC, de forma tal que el acceso a productos de calidad y con cierta variedad queda fuera del alcance del sector cuya referencia de ganancia sea el peso cubano. 1/1 En conclusión, el desabastecimiento de la red estatal de venta alimentos, la racionalización de compra por cantidad y frecuencia, y la baja calidad de los productos que oferta, convierte al mercado negro, a los revendedores y a la red particular de producción en la única opción segura, variada y de calidad para la copra de alimentos de la población cubana. Esta red, que se rige por los valores oscilantes del USD en el mercado informal de monedas cubano y la taza reconocida por el gobierno, minimiza los salarios en pesos cubanos que el Estado cubano establece como “justos” a partir de los precios de sus ofertas fantasma en las tiendas en pesos. La red privada de venta de alimentos, en toda su variedad de naturalezas, devela la injusta y turbia gestión gubernamental de los recursos alimenticios que dispone. Mientras la escala salarial se define por ofertas que el Estado no es capaz de mantener, el mercad privado y el mercado en MLC es abastecido con variados productos alejados del alcance de los salarios en pesos cubanos, reforzando la inaccesibilidad de la población cubana a una alimentación regular, segura y sana. 1/1 [1] http://www.cubadebate.cu/especiales/2022/10/26/el-pan-nuestro-ii-produccion-de-harina-en-molinos-cubanos-mercado-del-trigo-financiacion-y-factor- human/ [two] http://www.onei.gob.cu/node/18491 Read all of German Quintero's columns on the Food Monitor Program HERE