Havana Cuba. – The unusual news about the arrival of ships with oil, liquefied gas and wheat flour, and the distribution of sugar, are intended to contain the anger of the population throughout Cuba against the Government, bearer of slogans and demands for greater sacrifices. For months, most Cubans have been without bread, sugar and other essential foods, as well as electricity, water, transportation and medicines amid a dengue fever epidemic and a scenario of seemingly limitless inflation.
The fuel crisis that has hit Cubans in recent months is caused by a set of factors, including the poor quality of Venezuelan crude that reaches Cuba and the reduction in storage capacity -one million barrels- after the fire at the Matanzas Supertanker Base.
Russian oil, which could now reach Cuba in greater quantities, does have good quality. However, that will not be the solution to the serious Cuban crisis. “The problem of Cuba cannot be solved with bandages or in the short term”, it is about “structural problems”, said on the show The news as it is from Radio Marti, Jorge Piñón, prestigious researcher at the University of Texas Energy Institute.
Simultaneously, Cuba received a liquefied gas tanker, according to a Facebook report by pro-government reporter Bernardo Espinosa. The lack of this fuel for several months exacerbated the difficulties for cooking food in the midst of prolonged blackouts.
The arrival of a ship from Canada with 21,000 tons of wheat to produce flour was widely reported. The effects on the availability of raw material to make bread caused days of zero coverage in several provinces, according to official media. The Logistics Director of the Food Company, Osmany Rodríguez Long, explained that between April and May three ships with wheat that were supposed to arrive did not do so due to US sanctions.
Another delayed shipment should arrive on June 11, which was waiting for approximately 75 days, because the money had to go through several banks. If the arrival dates of other shipments are met, the bread from the regulated family basket (the quota of the ration book) will be guaranteed in a stable manner in the remainder of June and July, according to the official newspaper Granma.
The workers of the “14 de Julio” and “Caracas” mills in the province of Cienfuegos, among the few to comply and exceed their production plan in the 2022-2023 harvest, will send sugar to Havana, Artemisa and Pinar del Río, as reported by the All-Star Television Newscast last June 7. This year, the mills will have to supply their provinces, but the low production of the few that work is preventing them from meeting the rationing quotas. For example, so far in June only one pound of white sugar has been sold (in the only possible way, rationed) in Havana.
The Cuban authorities only have palliatives for the most pressing needs in the short term: until July. Even the dreaded summer August remains to be seen. The lack of liquidity is not mentioned in the official press reports, although it is the main reason for the shortages and paralysis of the industries.
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