CDMX, Mexico.- Milenio, one of the main Mexican newspapers, has reviewed today the agony suffered by Cubans on the island to buy a piece of pork and other food. The state markets, where on the eve of the end of the year they began to offer meat at lower prices than usual, have been taken over by a desperate population. For many this is their only option to be able to reach the food that is traditionally eaten every year end.
“I’ve been here since yesterday to see if I can buy a piece of pork,” he told Millennium Josefina Álvarez, 68, a retired civil servant, who was part of a mob of eager consumers waiting their turn in the Playa municipality in western Havana.
The state offer is approximately 200 pesos cheaper than the price in the informal market, when there is supply. In recent days, images of the endless lines and fights in the queues to get food have been shared on social networks. In the queues there is no age distinction. Both children and the elderly spend hours outdoors since night to reach the meat, which will be put up for sale the next day..
They are the portrait of a country that lives in barbarism, almost.
“Retirement (2,000 pesos a month) is not enough for me to buy what I have always bought to celebrate Christmas, look at how this is with people to buy even a little piece of pork, not to mention nougats from Jijona or Alicante, because that is only sold in dollars”, commented Álvarez. His retirement equates to less than 16 MLC at the formal rate. In other words, this lady earns enough per month to buy two, or with luck, three nougats. She nothing else she can buy.
To this must be added that the acquisition of MLC is very difficult for people who do not receive remittances in foreign currency. Cubans on the island who are not financially supported by emigrants can purchase a maximum of 100 MLC, but the lines are endless at exchange houses and the digital system to establish shifts often collapses. It is in these stores where there is a greater variety of food.
This Christmas will be one of the saddest in Cuba in recent years, in addition to the acute economic crisis as never before, people are missing at their tables. This has been the year with the most exodus from the island.
“Well, this year I didn’t put up the Christmas tree at home because of all the hassles of the blackouts and that, and also because one gets tired of standing in line for anything,” admits Álvarez.
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