Mexico City. Mexico- Currently, most of the products marketed by the state are sold in Freely Convertible Currency, MLC (to which a large part of the population does not have access). An economic apartheid that is especially aggravated by a recent increase in the costs of basic products.
After monitoring complaints on social networks, the media Cuban newspaper confirms that the state has increased the cost of chicken, pork, detergent among other products. In the case of chicken, after a few months of shortages, the product returned to the shelves but now the price exceeds 10 MLC. Amount that exceeds half of the average salary in Cuba.
Regarding pork, the aforementioned details that “the packages can be more than $20 MLC or up to $50, depending on whether it is loin, shoulder or leg.” On the other hand, a 500-gram package of detergent that used to cost around $1 now sells for $2.70.
How it all started?
On October 16, 2019, the Minister of Economy Alejandro Gil announced on the Round Table program that changes were coming, but he never finished counting all of them. At that time, he informed that they would begin to sell household appliances and automotive products in Freely Convertible Currency (MLC). At that time he pointed out: “We do not intend to eliminate national currencies or to expand sales in dollars or in any foreign currency to the rest of the retail network, nor to gradually gain more space in dollar sales.”
Nine months later, despite Gil’s words, Ana María Ortega Tamayo, general director of Tiendas Caribe, presented 72 state-owned points of sale that would sell “high-end” food and cleaning products in MLC, as well as hardware products. Once again, Cuban officials claimed that they were temporary measures to deal with the economic crisis and that they would not expand.
More than two years after the opening of these stores, the country continues to be severely undersupplied and prices in the informal market have skyrocketed. People wait for hours in long lines to buy food, even at MLC. It is in these establishments where they sell most of the basic necessities.
Let us note that citizens receive their salaries in CUP, and that it is very complex to go to a bank or an exchange house and convert Cuban pesos into a foreign currency. These cards can only be “recharged” with transfers from abroad or if you have currency in cash (less the US dollar). Once the money enters that account you will not be able to take it out anymore. Your only option is to spend it in these new stores, which are the least stocked.
The establishments in Cuban currency are practically ghost stores. Shelves that are often empty or full of bottles of water.
Ortega and Gil lied when maintaining that the marketing network in MLC would not continue to grow and that it would be a transitory measure. Sales at MLC have expanded considerably and prices are rising.
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