Havana Cuba. – The Cuban Revolution is an ailing old woman like the population that is being abandoned by the youngest in flight so as not to be devoured. About to turn 64 next 1st. January, he should be preparing his retirement to enjoy the wealth created in the splendid archipelago bathed by the waters of the Caribbean Sea. But the truth is that after the holidays, it will return to the harsh reality of immobility, the slogans with erratic vocabulary and the loss of credibility.
By calling 2023 the “Year 65 of the Revolution”Little of that prosperous country remains to be destroyed, and the continuing knights-errant force their hosts to undertake battles against the windmills by force of measures, decree-laws, regulations, hunger, misery, diseases, loss of moral and ethical values , robbery, corruption and repression. The elimination of the blackouts between 12 and 18 hours that he had promised to alleviate before the end of the year appears as a victory for the ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel, the result of his journey through Algeria, Turkey, Russia and China.
In the era of “creative resistance”, science, research and innovation, Cuban children after the age of seven go to school without breakfast, there are no medicines, the chronically ill and the elderly cannot buy the quotas of two pounds of powdered milk a month, and rationed rice will arrive in January thanks to the 7,500 tons donated by Viet Nam.
Sales of imported chicken -fundamentally from the United States-, oil and detergent decrease and space out; while marketing methods vary according to the imagination of local managers. The laundry soaps are for young children and those over 65 (like the Revolution). In the Cuban capital, the Temporary Working Group of the Provincial Government has warned about the increase in cases of COVID-19, dengue and other respiratory diseases, and has called for increased security and responsibility measures.
Meanwhile, the garbage overflows on the corners due to the breakdown of the collection trucks, lack of personnel and fuel. The offer of “liberated” bread is little; have announced efforts to sell groceries during the holiday season; There are only 289 buses in circulation – 32% of the minimum required – and there are very long lines to fill up on gasoline. In the rest of the country, the Government has downloaded the responsibility onto the municipal executives.
Sugar cannot be produced because there is no cane. No longer can drought, floods or cyclones be cited to justify the debacle. Simply put, Fidel Castro, aided by Ulises Rosales del Toro, dismantled power plants and grass fields to supposedly plant root vegetables, beans, vegetables and fruit trees, and thus depopulated the fields and bateyes. Now there is also no qualified labor force, workers or peasants.
It turns out that the AZCUBA company decided to sow, instead of cane, short-cycle crops and raise small animals to feed its workers and families. Said initiative coincided with the reduction of fuels and financing from Venezuela, the lack of liquidity and debts, which have prevented continuing imports of food, equipment, fertilizers and inputs in general, necessary to produce and export.
The intensification of the embargo by former President Donald Trump and the international isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic caused the debacle of tourism, which should have been the locomotive of the Cuban economy. The insane construction of hotels was also carried out to the detriment of investments in the obsolete factories and power plants.
The serious situation of agriculture, the ineffectiveness of the measures adopted and the loss of credibility of the authorities have become evident in the province of Ciego de Ávila, where for more than three months large sums were owed to the farmers of the Majagua municipality. Such non-compliance puts production plans in check, since only 33% of the milk has been contracted by 2023, according to Osvaldo Morales, director of Dairy in the province.
The matter has become inconceivably complex, the official told the newspaper Invasive: “From ranchers who have gotten up and left, others who have not attended the call in their productive base, to those who have proposed in advance, quite naturally, to pay the industry 10 pesos for each liter not delivered ―such and how non-compliance with the marketing policy is compensated― in order to dispose of the production”.
The scarce financial resources were dedicated to research, the production of vaccines and the control of the pandemic. Debts piled up; it was hardly possible to import or re-export oil, and most productive activities came to a standstill.
To create the perfect storm, on January 1, 2021, the “Ordering Task” was imposed, supposedly with the aim of unifying currencies and exchange rates, raising depressed wages and pensions, and achieving efficiency in state-owned companies. However, when prices increased, a chain of increases occurred without the adjustments made by the Government compensating the costs of the producers. At the same time, the capped prices of agricultural products were extended, and the chains of non-payments increased.
The “Ordering Task” was studied for 10 years and has gone down in Cuban history as the decisive push towards the precipice. Those who sacrificed for a decade to enjoy the orchard in their old age, today have no pesos to face inflation, and only if they receive remittances can they survive with dignity.
OPINION ARTICLE
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