“There is rum and cigars,” an old man proclaims as he walks from one corner to another on Reina de La Habana street. “Rum at 600 and cigars at 100”, he details to a passerby who approaches, interested.
“That rum is not an invention, is it?” Asks the young man. “Oh no! They gave it for the notebook in the warehouse and I am selling it to see if I escape this end of the year,” the seller replies. In portals and corners of the capital, the same scene is repeated: retirees who try to get some money from the sale of this alcoholic drink acquired “by the book” and highly sought after on the Island these days in the absence of beers or ciders. And the same with cigars.
The “regulated” distribution includes per person a bottle of rum, bottled in one and a half liter plastic and at a price of 132 pesos, and four boxes of strong H. Upmann cigarettes, at 17.50 pesos each. To the left, the products are resold at five times their cost.
“Ron Bocoy sealed from the cellar, 1.5 liters at 700 pesos. Viper (I do not move), private interested”. Ads like this have filled classified sites and social media. Another Facebook user jokes about the distribution of the drink: “1.5 of rum for the winery at the end of the year to have the people anesthetized. Too late, keep hitting the tail”.
Francisco Silva Herrera, general director of merchandise sales of the Ministry of Internal Trade, declared this Monday that 655,000 boxes were destined to guarantee the marketing of rum. The enthusiasm with the idea of buying the bottle of rum and then being able to resell it did not last long, since the drink is not of good quality.
“I have not been able to get out of the rum, nobody wants to buy it because it is already known that it is bad,” confesses a neighbor in Luyanó. “I’ll see if a miracle happens and get the ingredients to make a fri cream“.
The sale of rum through the rationed market once again enlivens the ghosts of the Special Period
In any case, the sale of rum on the rationed market once again enlivens the ghosts of the Special Period. During the crisis of the 90s, the product, one of the emblems of the national industry, was also sold in a controlled manner by each family nucleus. Eggs or chicken could be missing, but the alcohol arrived on time.
“Why so much rum?” Laments another resident of Centro Habana. “If they really want to help, give them a piece of meat for the 31.”
The inflation resulting from the so-called Ordinance Task has caused many Cubans to go out and sell what they have on hand, since almost at the end of the year many still do not know that they are going to have dinner on December 31. Not without consequences.
Mario, a neighbor of Havana’s El Vedado, was fined 8,000 pesos this week for selling the cigarettes corresponding to the quota. The young man had them displayed in the window of his house and the inspector who sanctioned him posed as a shopper.
“He cannot sell any of the products that are distributed in the winery,” the official informed him. “Well, I don’t understand it. If I don’t smoke, why can’t I sell them to solve other needs?” Mario dared to answer him, who assures that he will demand punishment from the relevant authorities.
Despite the fact that not all Cubans drink alcohol or smoke, everyone will receive this year-end rum and cigars that they are not allowed to sell. Meanwhile, the government’s response to the population’s concerns about food shortages and high prices has been the announcement that one pound of chicken and three pounds of rice per person will be distributed additionally.
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