Coffee, eggs, cigarettes, chicken and, above all, sugar are the products that accumulate the most complaints, due to their absence, in all Cuban provinces. More than a hundred comments add the publication of a note in Cubadebate of the Ministry of Domestic Trade informing of the “guaranteed” distribution of the July basket.
Information details some amounts and distributions by provinces. Of rice, they assure, seven pounds per person will arrive, but they will only be delivered in full this July 1 in Isla de la Juventud, Santiago de Cuba, Havana, Cienfuegos, Sancti Spíritus, Ciego de Ávila and Las Tunas. The rest of the territories will receive it in a staggered manner, supposedly in the first ten days of the month.
Fresh milk, another product that has suffered severe restrictions in recent months, is guaranteed for children up to six years old and patients with prescribed medical diets, but only in some territories. Where they do not have it – an important but unspecified detail – they must make do with powdered milk, which is also guaranteed for children under one year of age.
Fresh milk, another product that has suffered severe restrictions in recent months, is insured for children up to six years old and patients with prescribed medical diets, but only in some territories.
Other products that, according to the note, will reach the population, are beans, compotes, salt and oil, at the beginning of the month. The coffee and the eggs, sometime in July. The chicken, on the other hand, will come late, since the one corresponding to June is still being distributed.
The four pounds of sugar per person are guaranteed, says the Ministry. “The distribution of raw sugar will be completed during the month, and in Havana, two pounds of crude and two of refined,” specifies the note, an idea that the authorities have insisted on since they released the catastrophic data from the sugar harvest, which will barely be able to cover national consumption.
Among the many comments that the information has generated, there are at least twenty that applaud the provision of data to deny the false news that circulates, they say, in relation to the lack of food. But it is not necessary to go to the independent press or to Miami to realize that the lack of basic products is common throughout the Cuban geography.
In particular, that sugar so “guaranteed” accumulates a good number of critics for its lack. “Could you explain when we will see refined (white) sugar again in Holguín? They have only delivered brown sugar for about five months,” says a user. “The prieta or black. Dirty, it looks like sand and not sugar,” adds another.
“Please, can someone from Commerce clarify for me why in Guantánamo they haven’t given out refined white sugar for months. Is it that it no longer produces in the country or is it that we don’t have the same rights as the capital?”
“Please, can someone from Commerce clarify for me why in Guantánamo they haven’t given out refined white sugar for months. Is it that it no longer produces in the country or is it that we don’t have the same rights as the capital?”
Another reader adds: “Why is the distribution of refined sugar only carried out in Havana? It hasn’t been sold in other provinces for months. If there isn’t enough for everyone, then rotate the distribution through the provinces. it is sold in a month in the capital it would be provided for three or four provinces, so the rotation would be faster. They must be fairer, we are all Cubans, we all work and defend this country. Equality for all Cubans no matter what province be”.
But more testimonies affirm that Havana, in the crosshairs of Cubans from other provinces, does not receive it adequately either. “In the Tithe [San Miguel Padrón] This month’s white sugar hasn’t arrived yet, what’s up?” laments a man from Havana.
“Please Mincin (sic) softer. Sugar is not produced in Havana City,” another user replies to the Ministry itself, which responds to criticism by asking those who do not receive the product to contact their municipality. “In most provinces and municipalities, one pound of refined sugar is guaranteed and the remaining 3 of raw sugar,” they insist.
But the criticism grows. “In Alturas de Belén, Marianao, the remaining two pounds of white sugar, the coffee, the June chicken are missing… And are they already announcing the July thing? And what do they owe? And the toilet also needs to be dispatched” , expands another resident of Havana.
Coffee is another of the most lacking products according to users. “To fight balls, you have to speak clearly. In Minas de Matahambre the coffee for the month of June has not been delivered and they are already talking about the month of July. Today, June 30 at 7 pm, still in the warehouse that I bought There were no products to start selling on July 1, because they had not been distributed. And about powdered milk for diets, they haven’t delivered any for a long time,” explains another reader.
In Alturas de Belén, Marianao, the remaining two pounds of white sugar, the coffee, the June chicken are missing… And are they already announcing the July thing? And what do they owe?
“Today, at the time of reading this note, in my warehouse in the Boyeros municipality, specifically in Rio Verde, the coffee corresponding to the month of June has not yet arrived,” continues a user. “I’m from Camagüey. Here already, today the last day of the month, and they haven’t brought coffee, eggs or cigarettes,” says another.
Because eggs are another of the most demanded products, like chicken. “Let’s see if they do as with the chicken, that for two months they have displaced the delivery and, in the end, they owe us a fee. Please, do not make publications of this type because they create expectations that are not fulfilled. And it is the food of the town, the basic basket that, in itself, is very short. I am from the Cerro municipality,” laments one more.
The discomfort reaches even those who want to believe in what the authorities say, but find that the opposite is happening. “Very good article, necessary to combat fake news. But it would be good if the directors of the Mincin (sic) adjust the reports with their provincial officials, because here in the municipality of Yaguajay in the province of Sancti Spíritus the report has not yet been distributed. chicken in May and today June ends. In addition, this province is among those that begin with the total distribution of the basket and it is not like that.”
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