The provincial government claims there is enough food to go around but the ration stores beg to differ
14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, 18 September 2024 – The flies circulating around the counter of the Calle Gloria bodega — the ration store — are witnesses to the fact that the regulated family ration basket has not yet arrived. September is nearly over and although the province’s interior commerce authorities give assurances that there are enough stocks to ensure distribution, in the actual ration shops themselves it’s the opposite that is obviously the case.
Alfredo, retired, 68, asks if anything has arrived yet, knowing full well in advance what the shop’s answer will be. “I don’t know what these people are thinking. It’s not enough for them that they remove some of the products from the baskets, but then they only distribute them when and if they can be bothered. Obviously, none of those bosses need a ration book to survive”, he says. But his experience is very different because he only gets 1,800 pesos in his pension each month.
There’s room in the shop to store what has been announced – for each person 7 pounds of rice, 2 pounds of sugar, 10 ounces of peas, 4 boxes of cigars and tobacco – none of which anyone believes can be maintained in the months to come. “Especially for those of us at the bottom who have to put up with hunger. When I finally actually see the two tins of sardines that they promised us over-65’s, then I’ll believe it”, Alfredo adds.
