Sancti Spíritus/Two themes dominate conversations in the city of Sancti Spíritus these days: long blackouts and rice price increase. Up to 300 pesos La Libra has come to cost in Cuba this week the cereal, indispensable in the daily menu and that up to the markets of the island imported from countries such as Brazil, the United States, Guyana or Vietnam.
On Wednesday afternoon, in front of a market managed by a MSME In the spirituan historical center, a dozen people awaited to buy several products, including the bags of a kilogram of rice of the Mexican brand Onís, at 600 pesos the package. “There is no other option,” said a client who encrypted his hopes on the tour that begins this Thursday Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, for Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Laos.
“It seems that she will go looking for rice,” the woman speculated in allusion to the frequent perpos that official officials do, the same to ask for the condonation of a debt, a little oil with which to start the thermoelectric or some Another gift that ends in the increasingly trimmed ration of foods consumed by Cubans. “It has to be for that because otherwise it would be.”
In the row, the comments on “The Rice Tour” of the Foreign Minister quickly gave way to the debate about the rise that the cereal has experienced in recent weeks. If at the beginning of this year a pound of the product cost on the 180 pesos in most of the markets of the island, with the arrival of February the amount has been climbing. “The cheapest that you find now is 250 and that is in the case of Creole rice that always has a worse quality,” added another client who was waiting for the outskirts of the MSME.
In the row, the comments on “The Rice Tour” of the Foreign Minister quickly gave way to the debate about the climb that the cereal has experienced
Spirits know very well what they speak when it is national rice. In 2022 the Vietnamese technicians who helped in cereal production in the Sierpe area canceled the project and left. Asians had two decades on the island with a collaboration agreement in which they advised local producers, imported equipment and dealt with local bureaucratic machinery.
But three years ago, the lack of fuel, the inefficiency of the agro -industrial grain company and the framework of permits, officials and absurd limitations filled the cup, made their bags and left. After the departure of the Vietnamese, the production of rice collapsed and the State distributed part of the lands of the Sierpe to local peasants who have been complaining about excess pressures and low payments for their crops.
Now, a Vietnamese company will be the one who insists on carrying out a rice project, but this time with new advantages, since the Cuban government has delivered in usufruct Lands of the Pinareño Municipality of Los Palacios for cereal cultivation. It is the first time since 1959 that Havana gives land to a foreign company.
In the center of the country, spirituans put their expectations on trips to Vietnam. “I hope the minister manages to don 14ymedio Xiomara, a housewife of the cast kilo 12 who claims not to be able to pay the new food prices in the private market. “My pension does not reach me for five pounds,” he concludes.
Vietnamese donations have been frequent in recent years when the economic crisis in Cuba has aggravated. Last April, the Asian country announced that it would deliver 1,640 tons of the popular food to the island. Just a few months before, in October 2023, he had donated 1,200 tons for the basic basket that is sold through the ration book.
Just a few months before, in October 2023, he had donated 1,200 tons for the basic basket that is sold through the ration book
The rice, a basic food of almost any dish on the island, was last year the largest headache For Cuban kitchens. Upon arriving Christmas, where cereal is an indispensable ingredient of family dinners, in ration markets, November fees were barely being sold. The climb promoted to the clouds the costs of feeding on the island.
In the informal market, rice sales are made mainly for sacks or amounts to wholesale. A bag with 25 kilograms of the product exceeds 16,500 pesos and most merchants demand that the customer acquire a minimum of 10 bags, the transfer of the merchandise is paid separately and very expensive the purchase in a country where the automotive park has Great limitations due to lack of fuel.
In Havana, the typical menu that is known as “a complete” or “a box” has been more increasing in recent weeks due to the increase in the cost of rice, as this newspaper has been able to confirm in several cafes and restaurants. “With rice you get in 650 but if you want it only with sweet potato then there are 580,” explained the dependent on a small private place located near the corner of Infanta and San Lázaro, in Centro Habana.
