“The chicken arrived to the population and the rice that was missing. Coffee and detergent pending, blessings.” The message from a neighbor from Centro Habana gave the starting signal this Wednesday to a crowd that ran in search of the chicken that had been lost for months. Two hours later there was no chicken and no trace of tail.
Last Friday, the Ministry of Domestic Trade asked the population for peace of mind, assuring that chicken would reach all corners of the Island. A week earlier, the authorities revealed that, due to the lack of availability, only medical diets and children up to 13 years old would be entitled to the bird’s meat through the booklet, while those over that age would receive mincemeat as a substitute and mortadella.
Finally, and despite the collapse of chicken imports, the Government rectified the measure and began distribution in Camagüey last Friday, at the rate of one and a half pounds of meat for those under 14 and one for those over that age.
It is suspected that the shipment of chicken that arrived on May 5 aboard the refrigerated ship Orange Spiritfrom New Orleans, was intended for sale in Freely Convertible Currency (MLC) and that the authorities made the decision to distribute it through the book in national currency upon realizing the growing discontent in the country, expressed on social networks and in the Caimanera protest, last Saturday.
As soon as the ‘Orange Spirit’ was unloaded, the frozen poultry meat, which had become an object of desire for all Cubans since they stopped aspiring to pork, was quickly distributed in Havana
just downloaded from Orange Spiritfrozen poultry meat, which has become the object of desire of all Cubans since they stopped aspiring to pork, was quickly distributed in Havana and dispatched to other cities in the center of the island, as the correspondents of Cuba were able to confirm. 14ymedio.
This Tuesday, the trucks delivered to the butcher shops in the capital with such unusual efficiency that the chicken hindquarters were already found the next day in all the establishments, as this newspaper was able to verify on a tour of different downtown neighborhoods.
The chicken, from the American brand Tyson, is not one of the most appreciated by the population, due to the dark color it acquires when cooked. But the mere fact of finally being able to buy the planned half pound – at 20 pesos – was already a reason for joy for the people of Havana.
“You can’t complain, you already have chicken,” a neighbor joked to another who was leaving with his long-awaited package.
“You can’t complain, you already have chicken,” a neighbor joked to another who was leaving with his long-awaited package
Despite the announcement of the arrival of the shipment of chicken, diffused to hype and cymbal in Havana Tribune This Tuesday, some neighbors did not expect the happy news. “She caught people moving,” said a retiree from Nuevo Vedado who found out hours later that she had supplied her butcher shop with the long-awaited hindquarters.
The general director of the Copmar Food Trading Company, Enrique Plaza Maldestein, told Noticiero Estelar on Tuesday that 51 containers of chicken were being unloaded in the port of Havana. The average tons of chicken needed to supply the capital’s family basket is 5,300, all imported.
For the third consecutive month, chicken purchases from the US, which must be paid in cash due to embargo restrictions, fell in March due to a lack of foreign currency at the Central Bank. Imports from Brazil, another of the island’s most stable suppliers and with whom these limitations do not exist, also decreased.
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