Cuban Retiree: ‘My Pension Can Barely Buy Food for a Week’

At the Calzada de Dolores fair in Cienfuegos, which is held on Saturdays, it is becoming more and more expensive to pay for the few products that there are.

By Julio Cesar Contreras (14ymedio)  

HAVANA TIMES – On Calzada de Dolores two parallel fairs coexist every Saturday. One is for those who have the required licenses to sell. The other is for those who, without a license, have all kinds of food, toiletries or even jewelry. Both have one thing in common: the prices scare off the people of Cienfuegos who come looking for affordable variety and acceptable quality. It is normal to have to turn around.

“I wanted to be here at 7:00 in the morning, but the lack of public transport prevented me,” says Fermin, a resident who came looking for a good deal and is about to leave disappointed. “There is only a little bit of junk left, corn flour and some jams that the MSMEs bring to sell. There is more soda and beer than is really necessary to feed a household. Anyone who sees so many people would think that there is a wide range of products, but most of the town leaves empty-handed, or carrying a small bag with only two or three things,” he says.

The trucks parked in the middle of the street give the impression of an abundance that exists only in official propaganda, which punctually announces the Saturday event. Fermín notes that nothing is further from the truth, but the little that there is is not enough for pockets like his. With a monthly salary of 3,200 pesos ($10 USD), the Cienfuegos resident must juggle to get food every day.

“The positive thing about this fair is the concentration of products in one place, because, with rare exceptions, the cost of purchases is the same as in other places. I’m craving a bean stew and I’ll have to wait a while, because there isn’t any. The most I can do is buy a small pot of chili peppers for 60 pesos, until the rest appears,” the man admits.

If it is difficult for him, it is worse for Carmen, a 69-year-old retiree whose pension has only covered two cucumbers, a handful of bananas, a pound of malangas and three pounds of rice. “I have spent almost a thousand pesos and I can categorically say that I am not guaranteed food for even a week. To top it off, you have to be very attentive to the weighing because, at the slightest carelessness, they steal without mercy. It is an abuse they have with the population, especially with those of us who have dedicated ourselves for decades to working for this system, which has ended up being a total debacle,” she admits.

Editor’s note: Many retired Cubans receive pensions of 1,500 to 2,000 pesos (around $5 top $6 USD).

Among the stalls you can find a pound of pork for 700 pesos, or a liter of oil for the same amount. Both are highly sought-after products, but at these prices it is almost impossible for many to buy them. “They can put whatever they want on sale, but if everything continues to be so expensive we will not solve anything. I have been here since dawn, waiting for some sales to spend less overall, but if I don’t hurry I will go home the same way I came,” laments Carmen.

The vendors display their merchandise in plastic boxes, wooden shelves, tents or on the ground itself, but they never take their eyes off the inspectors, who wait for the opportunity to fine anyone who fails to comply with the price limits decreed by municipal governments, a measure that can be as strict as it is avoidable, depending on how willing the official is to be corrupted.

“They make money at the expense of others’ sacrifices. They impose fines of up to 10,000 pesos for anything they can think of, supposedly in compliance with the law. They demand a lot of documentation, a lot of hygiene, a lot of legality. However, I see them turning a blind eye to some individuals who have bought them. That is the truth,” says Arquímedes, a small farmer living in the municipality of Abreus, who is calling for the sector to be liberalized.

“They should remove all bureaucratic obstacles, which are only useful for wasting time and resources. There is no need for Acopio [the State Procurement and Distribution Agency] or any other entity. If they sold us everything we need to work the land, if they allowed us to sell first-hand and stopped treating us as if we were thieves, the supply would increase rapidly,” the farmer believes.

The price caps in agricultural markets, a provincial jurisdiction according to decree 30/2021, are, together with the cap imposed on MSMEs for six basic products since July, the two mechanisms that, according to economists, producers and private individuals, are limiting supply. The Vice Minister of Finance and Prices, Lourdes Rodríguez Ruiz, said this Saturday that since July the Government has collected more than 600 million pesos nationwide under these regulations.

“Any act in which the price of a product sold to the population is violated, agreed upon by the State, affects the people. Our job is to maintain the established price and quality,” he argued. The result, however, is not the desired one, even though the law regulating agricultural markets has been in place for more than three years. The recipe, together with other government decisions and the general crisis affecting the country, has only resulted in the reduction of supply.

“The situation is getting tighter for ordinary people every day. Before, you could buy at least the essentials, but things are so tough that even children are going without food. This government is playing with fire,” concludes a young man at the fair while offering his to light his companion’s cigarette.

Translated by Translating Cuba.

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