The Cuban government justifies its inability to offer food
HAVANA, June 21 The shortage of bread that has afflicted Cubans for months is well understood with the figures that Manuel Santiago Sobrino Martínez,
Minister of the Food Industry, provided on television on Tuesday night. In 2023, at least 18 ships loaded with wheat should have arrived to make flour and, with it, bread, but only four have arrived.
“To guarantee stability in the production of flour and traditional consumption in a month, you have to buy three boats of wheat, which cost about 35 million dollars,” the minister explained in the Round Table program, who places the first serious problems in the second half of last year and admits that the “very critical” situation has worsened.
Sobrino Martínez indicated that cereal prices have skyrocketed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which he called “the war in Europe,” but that the situation worsens for Cuba due to the embargo.
“We have managed to contract flour in countries in the area and on many occasions shipping companies that reside in those countries do not accept coming to Cuba and we have to look for ships from other origins and send them to those places and that logically has a cost,” he explained.
“We have managed to contract flour in countries in the area and on many occasions shipping companies that reside in those countries do not accept coming to Cuba and we have to look for ships from other origins and send them to those places and that logically has a cost”
The most recent cargoes arrived from Canada -21,000 tons- and Mexico -1,200 tons-, but both suffered cargo delays, in particular the latter, which took 75 days in one operation, with the consequent increase in costs, according to the minister, although a simple review of the movements of ships belies the official justifications.
The problems continue when the cereal arrives since the four mills on the Island cannot grind despite the fact that they managed to finance and pay for the spare parts. «The banks where they work have not accepted our payment. We have to look for other alternatives.”
Meanwhile, the minister confirmed that the provinces most affected by the problems to produce wheat flour are Las Tunas, Granma, Guantánamo, and Santiago de Cuba, once again, the eastern ones. As previously warned, the supply is presumably guaranteed for the months of June and July, but now they are trying to contract August.
Despite the fact that all these calamities depend on the Government, the minister did not hesitate to throw part of the responsibility on the producers and said that “the quality of this product [bread] is influenced by lack of control in places where there has not been enough requirement”.
The authorities’ difficulties in feeding the population were evident in the minister’s intervention, who, when reviewing the products, made clear the lack of some very essential products and others with a long-producing tradition in the country, such as coffee.
“From now on, it will depend on whether we can import it because national production will not be able to cover these months,” he said, throwing a jug of cold water on the citizens, who are still receiving May and already know that there will be no more.
Nor can it be expected that there will be milk, since, once again, it will depend on imported milk. “Although in certain areas, such as the central provinces, there is good milk production, to ensure the country’s consumption we depend on small imports from Latin America and the Caribbean, which today do not meet the demand,” admitted the minister.
“From now on, it will depend on whether we can import it, because national production will not be able to cover these months,” he said, pouring cold water on the citizens.
Oil is another of the basic foods for which you will have to suffer. According to Sobrino Martínez, a whole month of this product is owed in the warehouses, although a ship has just arrived that will be able to supply the demand for about 60 days.
It is a case similar to that of the compote, which is expected not to be lacking in the coming months, or the chicken, “guaranteed” for July and August in theory. In addition, the minister announced, a ship will arrive shortly with “raw materials” to make some products that are not exactly among the most appetizing but will be there for at least two months, mincemeat and ham.
Sobrino Martínez had begun his intervention by talking about food safety, a concept embodied in a law whose effects citizens are not yet perceiving, as he admitted.
“We know that as long as Cubans do not see all these changes reflected on their table, they will doubt all these concepts, but there is a government will to reverse this situation,” he said.
The minister explained that the mission of his department is for Cubans to have their nutritional needs satisfied, an element that was also highlighted by Jesús Lorenzo Rodríguez Mendoza, director of research for the food industry, who focused on research and transgenics to alleviate these deficiencies.
“It is not about producing food to produce, but about producing food that meets the demand of that population in terms of the amount of protein, fat, etc.,” he explained.
However, during the Round Table, it became clear once again that the authorities are not committed to a healthy diet. The minister himself said that a program has been created so that this summer there will be beer, soft drinks, ice cream and preserves, that is, two of the worst substances from a nutritional point of view: alcohol and sugars.
The new investments of foreign (five) and national (two) capital are focused precisely on them, with which it is planned to launch a biscuit, jam and coffee factory, a beer factory in Mariel, and a jam factory in Caibarién ( Villa Clara), and one more of Baracoa chocolate, in addition to the expansion of the production of the national Bucanero beer.
It became clear once again that the authorities are not committed to a healthy diet. The minister himself said that a program has been created so that this summer there will be beer, soft drinks, ice cream and preserves
There was a lot of talk about alcohol last night since the collapse of the sugar sector has had repercussions on the industry. «[With Azcuba] we have managed to extract more than two million boxes of rum, which will allow production to be recovered.
Between July and August, for example, we will deliver figures similar to those we marketed in 2019, around 400,000 boxes of rum,” he said, explaining that the measures taken jointly with state companies are serving to reverse the problems.
The minister pointed out that the arrival of MSMEs has served to “invigorate the sector”, since there are 844 private micro, small and medium-sized companies, of which 144 are dedicated to bakery and confectionery, 194 to meat production, 188 to preserves and 92 to dairy products.
The authorities regretted in March, however, that this amount represents barely 15% of the entire private sector, where, on the other hand, there are many who sell food instead of manufacturing it.
In the program for this Tuesday, a specific section was also dedicated to fishing and the impossibility of maintaining import levels. Although the 2019 fishing law tried to improve the situation, at this time – and given the null results – amendments are being introduced to update it.
Meanwhile, Vice Minister Midalys Naranjo Blanco could not have been clearer when admitting a phrase that is permanently at the end of the street: “Although Cuba is a country surrounded by the sea, its waters do not have the necessary levels of fish to satisfy the demand for the population”.
