Cubans and Tourists Without Bread Until the End of March

despite a donation of Russian wheat

Of the five mills on the Island, only one, the one in Cienfuegos, is operational

By 14ymedio

HAVANA TIMES – Once again, there is little bread in Cuba due to a lack of flour. The “complex situation,” as the official press defines it, will last until the end of March, according to Emerio Gonzalez Lorenzo, president of the Food Industry Business Group.

Although state media say that the “impact” on the rationed bread rolls began to “show” this Saturday, it is something that consumers have been experiencing daily for months, even in establishments aimed at tourism.

Similarly, the report on national television said that the last shipments of raw materials arrived at the end of January “and ensured the activity of mills and bakeries for most of February.” At no time does it mention that 25,000 tons of wheat donated by the Russian government that arrived in mid-January.

That amount exceeds the 20,000 tons that, authorities assured this Saturday, are necessary to cover the rationed daily bread rolls for a month. If this is the case, the shipment of Russian wheat should have been enough to supply the stores for the remainder of this month and the next.

The Government, as usual, blamed the situation on “financial restrictions mainly due to the intensified US embargo, [which they call a blockade] and the logistical limitations that Cuba suffers to bring wheat from distant markets.” However, following that, the president of the Food Industry himself said that of the five mills on the Island, only one, the one in Cienfuegos, is operational, and it cannot produce more than 250 tons per day, out of the 700 demanded for the rationed bread rolls.

The substitute products added to bread – such as cassava, squash, or rice – are not a solution either, as they only make up 15% of the total needed to make the bread rolls, according to official notes. And neither is buying bread from private vendors: although they claim that “the purchase of imported flour by non-state forms of management is being negotiated,” this contribution amounts to only 3,000 tons per month, and, as Gonzalez says, in any case, “the tons that arrive at the port will not cover the needs.”

It is not the first time that there has been a shortage of flour and, consequently, bread on the Island. At the end of last year, the regime justified this shortage by saying that the war between Russia and Ukraine had increased the cost of wheat imports, something that was denied by economists like Pedro Monreal. Based on data from the Business Insider website, the expert asserted that the price of cereal was at its lowest point since 2020.

Read more from Cuba here on Havana Times.