HOLGUÍN, Cuba. – Elena Rodríguez García, a 68-year-old retiree from Holguín, says with a tone of resignation that black bean stew, a traditional dish in the Cuban diet, has become an unattainable luxury. “Beans are very expensive,” she says. “A pound of black beans costs 350 pesos, while a pound of red beans costs 470. My pension of 1,680 pesos is not enough for anything more than the basics.”
Food shortages are not exclusive to Holguin:Across the country, high prices and shortages of basic goods have transformed daily life into a constant struggle for survival.
José Martínez Pérez, a 55-year-old man, talks about sugar, another essential ingredient that has seen an excessive increase in price. “Sugar is the worst,” he says. “The pound is 300 pesos, in a country that has a century-old history of producing this product,” he says.
It also highlights the irony of living in a country that once boasted of its sugar might and is now forced to import sugar to meet domestic demand.
For many Cubans, one of the most outrageous prices in a farmers’ market is that of avocados. “Unprecedented,” says Holguin resident Roberto Díaz Hernández. “An avocado now costs 200 pesos. How can it be that a simple avocado, something that grows in our fields, is only within the reach of a few?” he asks.
Beyond fruits and vegetables, pork has become the undisputed queen of high prices. “Pork is at 750 pesos per pound. It’s a record,” exclaims Ricardo González López, a resident of the Pueblo Nuevo neighborhood, also in Holguín.
Cubans’ discontent is not just a question of prices, it also reflects frustration with government policies that seem unable to address the crisis. In July 2023, Esteban Lazo Hernández, president of the Cuban Parliament, recognized the failure of Law 148 on Food Sovereignty and Food and Nutritional Security. “100% of the basic food basket is being imported,” he said. “We are tired of programs and measures that do not yield results.”
Lazo’s words resonated like an echo of despair among Cubans. The aforementioned law, with its nine titles, 24 chapters, 101 articles and four final provisions, has failed to provide a tangible solution to the food problems affecting the population.
A year after Lazo’s statements, the situation has not improved; in fact, it has worsened. Recently, Alberto López Díaz, head of the Food Industry, presented a report showing a growing inability to address deficiencies in production. “The 43 measures approved to strengthen the socialist state enterprise are not being implemented or adequately used,” he pointed Lopez.
“With the bad leaders we have,” says young Ernesto Pérez, from the Pueblo Nuevo neighborhood, “I am sure that shortages will increase, prices will continue to rise, and most of us will continue to live in misery, with no hope for a better future.”
Meanwhile, Laura Gomez, a mother of three, expresses her frustration with the cost of eggs, which has reached 3,000 pesos per carton. “Eating eggs is a luxury,” she says. “I never imagined that a simple carton of eggs would cost so much. Food has become a luxury that most people cannot afford.”
Carlos Martínez criticizes the quality of food available in the market. “Of all the things we need in food, the saying bad, ugly and expensive is most noticeable,” he says. “Rice costs between 250 and 300 pesos a pound, but it is chopped and has a bad taste. Fungus is a bit expensive, but it is not very tasty. [plátano] It is small, with a lot of skin; and even so, a handful of eight mushrooms costs 150 pesos. A glass of yogurt at 60 pesos, for example, is more water than yogurt.”
Marta Rodriguez, a 71-year-old woman, made the following analysis: “You can wear old, patched-up clothes and shoes, but you can’t stop eating. Food is essential, and when prices are sky-high, it becomes a daily struggle.”
“Living in these circumstances is like being caught in a never-ending storm,” says Pedro González Diéguez. “Prices keep rising, and meanwhile, salaries and pensions are not enough to cover the basics.”
The issue of inflation, as addressed in the first ordinary session of the National Assembly of People’s Power in its 10th Legislature in July 2023, has deep roots in global and local factors. Vladimir Regueiro Ale, Minister of Finance and Prices of the Cuban regime, attributed the causes of inflation to the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemicinternational war conflicts and the “intensification of the economic blockade imposed by USA”.
In this context of uncertainty, Cubans’ disillusionment is palpable. Carmen Rodríguez López, a 63-year-old retiree, expresses her pessimism forcefully: “With the ineptitude of our leaders, who make mistakes that the people must pay for, the situation can only get worse. Prices will continue to rise and shortages will be even greater. Most of us will continue to live in misery, with no hope for a better future,” Carmen concludes.
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