Throwing a bucket of water from the balcony, burning a doll or painting the house are some of the traditions that Cubans use every December so that, when January arrives, the problems of the previous year do not spread to the new one. A list that this 2022 will be reduced due to the high prices involved in renewing the colors of the walls in homes on the Island.
Just this last month of the year, a store with paints, thinners and brushes opened its doors on Belascoaín street in Havana. Belonging to the Pan-American chain, of the Cimex corporation -in charge of the Cuban military-, the store is called La Casa del Pintor. The place stands out with its gleaming stained glass windows, its new floors and all its lamps with light bulbs in the middle of a street marked by deterioration and houses in danger of collapsing.
The shiny appearance of the store made many onlookers come this Wednesday morning to inquire about the products it has for sale, but most of them retraced their steps when the employees clarified that it is a shop in freely convertible currency ( MLC). “It is in foreign currency and very expensive,” said one of the frustrated clients who was excited about the almost 20-liter tanks with interior paint.
with the mark Devox Caribbean SA, the containers of paint that are offered in the trade carry the motto “Proudly Cuban Product” on their label, which refers to an industry located in the Special Development Zone of Mariel (ZEDM) as the origin of the products for sale. . However, three years ago, when the official press announced the start-up of the plant, it was classified as a “Mexican company” that used “high technology for the manufacture of paints and coatings.”
As long as the Island does not produce the raw materials needed for manufacturing, the industry needs to buy its inputs abroad in foreign currency.
“The paint is brought from Mexico, the factory technology is also Mexican and the workforce is Cuban,” a company employee, who has an office in the Miramar Business Center, clarifies by phone. Until very recently, the product was only sold in mixed currency markets, such as the one on 5th and 42nd streets, in the municipality of Playa, and the Plaza de Cuatro Caminos. “La Casa del Pintor is the first store, exclusively, for our productions”, he reiterates.
“That is where we have the largest assortment because in Cuba what is complicated is the assortment of colors and varieties,” acknowledges the employee. “It is one of the best paintings that is being sold right now in the country,” he reiterates, while he specifies that all the offers are, so far, in MLC. As long as the Island does not produce the raw materials needed for manufacturing, the industry needs to buy its inputs abroad in foreign currency.
in an article published in 2019 by cubadebate It added that “Devox Caribe SA is a subsidiary of the Mexican company Devox-General Paint, which has exported its products to Cuba for 25 years.” At the bottom of that text, a premonitory comment warned: “I will applaud fervently when I see those paintings in our stores at an affordable price, or at least not so expensive.” Now, a 19-liter tank of white paint for interiors costs 76 MLC on Belascoaín street.
“It’s expensive, but the paint is good,” he admits The Chinese, a bricklayer who, together with three other men, has formed a brigade to repair houses. “It is one of the best that there is right now in Cuba because it is not really from here, but rather they bring it and pack it before selling it.” The self-employed worker considers that “the products of the state factories are not good, they have a very limited range of colors and sometimes they are adulterated.”
El Chino bought a 19-liter tank made of white “matte-finish acrylic latex and anti-mold” for an exterior wall. “It was very thick and seems to be of good quality, but time will tell the last word. In any case, the price is high and that makes the total price that we ask the client more expensive. If you add labor and other inputs, paint a two-bedroom apartment, with a living room, kitchen, and bathroom, doesn’t go below $300.”
“The advertising it says on the label is doing you more harm than good, because people prefer imported paint”
“The advertising on the label is doing more harm than good, because people prefer imported paint,” he says. “When a construction or repair product says that it is made here, the clientele is scared because they already imagine the diversion of resources, the water that is added to it to comply with the plan and all the mismanagement.”
But even of dubious quality, domestically produced paint is in short supply and commands high prices. A container, also 19 liters, of white paint for interiors from the Cuban brand Vitral it costs 79 dollars on an official classifieds site for emigrants to buy products for their relatives on the Island.
The state-run company is not going through a good time due to the shortage of raw materials and two years ago its director, Luis Alberto Suárez Ibarra, recognized that in the ZEDM they had “two competitors: Devox Caribe SA and All Color“, something that motivated them to be more efficient. But their products have been diminishing in the markets instead of increasing their presence.
For families that do not have foreign exchange income, the alternatives to reach a new year with retouched walls are to resort to lower quality products such as marble or lime paint, a type of coating that is not very durable and highly adulterated in the informal market. However, the most popular option these days is simply to give up painting the home. “What is proudly Cuban now is to wait,” recommends El Chino.
________________________
Collaborate with our work:
The team of 14ymedio He is committed to doing serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for accompanying us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time becoming a member of our newspaper. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
