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Rationing in Cuba
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Rationing in Cuba
Rationing in Cuba is organized by the government and implemented by means of a Libreta de Abastecimiento ("Supplies booklet") assigned to every individual. The system establishes the amounts of subsidized rations each person is allowed to receive through the system, and the frequency at which supplies can be obtained. While the food rations are not free, the ration fees are a small fraction of the actual price of the goods (on average, less than $2 USD for a month of rations, which is approximately 12% of their market value). Purchases of the goods can also be made outside of the system.
Despite past rumors of ending, the system still exists. As of 2012, a coupon book taken to a ration shop provided family minimums for rice, sugar, matches, and oil, above the average wage of $30/month. While most Cubans do not have to pay for rent, healthcare, or education, ration fees often take up a large percentage of their monthly income, and the unsubsidized costs of their monthly rations would be greater than the average monthly income. The amount of food provided to each citizen has decreased somewhat over time due to the end of billions in yearly financial support from the USSR, a drastic reduction of tens of thousands of subsidized petroleum barrels from Venezuela, and increased sanctions from the United States, and there have been significant increases in the ration fees at times. Economic mismanagement has also played a large role in food shortages and rationing, even while the USSR subsidized the island to the tune of $5 billion per year, certain food items still had to be rationed.
All citizens are still provided with subsidized rations today, even those who could otherwise afford to purchase food. President Raúl Castro said in 2011 that the subsidies are far too costly for the Cuban government, involving more than $1 billion USD in food subsidies every year, and that he would like to eliminate the system and its "unbearable burden for the economy" which he claimed produces "a disincentive to work". These remarks were received very negatively among Cubans, and Castro eventually reversed his proposal.
More strenuous rationing on food and other basics was imposed in May 2019 due to the country's economic problems, which resulted largely from a stiffening U.S. embargo, the loss of aid from Venezuela, and difficulties with the state-run oil company.
The vast majority of Cuban families rely, for their food intake, on the Libreta de Abastecimiento (literally, "Supplies booklet") distribution system, instated on 12 March 1962. The system establishes the rations each person is allowed to buy through the system, and the frequency of supplies. Most of these products are distributed at the local bodega (convenience store specialized in distributing these rations), and in the case of meat, poultry or fish, at the local carnicería (meat store). Other industrial products are also included in the libreta, such as cigarettes, cigars, matches and cooking fuels (liquified gas, alcohol, kerosene or even charcoal, depending on each person's means for cooking). Other products can also be distributed through this method, such as light bulbs and other home supplies.[citation needed]
Products included in the libreta vary according to age and sex. For example, children below 7 years old are provided 1 litre of milk per day, as are the elderly, the ill, and pregnant women. Adults above 65 years are entitled to different allowances, as well. Granting a special diet requires presentation of a medical certificate which confirms the health condition and what product requirements this condition has.[citation needed]
A Government office, specially created for this task, the OFICODA, distributes the libreta to all citizens each year, in the form of a small booklet.[citation needed] This booklet contains pages indicating the exact number and age groups of persons composing the family nucleus (typically, one booklet is released per family nucleus), as well as any dietary indications. A person's products are distributed only at the bodega that serves their area of official residence.[citation needed] A person cannot receive their products somewhere else, so each change of address requires returning to the OFICODA to update the booklet's data, and those living away from their registered addresses have to return to the previous area for their supplies.[citation needed]
Products distributed through the libreta mechanism are sold at subsidized prices, which have been kept more or less stable since its inception (the mean salary of a worker has varied very little since, as well). The libreta contains a page for every month, where the clerk marks what products were withdrawn, and in which quantities. Cubans are required to present the libreta each time they buy the rations.[citation needed]
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Rationing in Cuba
Rationing in Cuba is organized by the government and implemented by means of a Libreta de Abastecimiento ("Supplies booklet") assigned to every individual. The system establishes the amounts of subsidized rations each person is allowed to receive through the system, and the frequency at which supplies can be obtained. While the food rations are not free, the ration fees are a small fraction of the actual price of the goods (on average, less than $2 USD for a month of rations, which is approximately 12% of their market value). Purchases of the goods can also be made outside of the system.
Despite past rumors of ending, the system still exists. As of 2012, a coupon book taken to a ration shop provided family minimums for rice, sugar, matches, and oil, above the average wage of $30/month. While most Cubans do not have to pay for rent, healthcare, or education, ration fees often take up a large percentage of their monthly income, and the unsubsidized costs of their monthly rations would be greater than the average monthly income. The amount of food provided to each citizen has decreased somewhat over time due to the end of billions in yearly financial support from the USSR, a drastic reduction of tens of thousands of subsidized petroleum barrels from Venezuela, and increased sanctions from the United States, and there have been significant increases in the ration fees at times. Economic mismanagement has also played a large role in food shortages and rationing, even while the USSR subsidized the island to the tune of $5 billion per year, certain food items still had to be rationed.
All citizens are still provided with subsidized rations today, even those who could otherwise afford to purchase food. President Raúl Castro said in 2011 that the subsidies are far too costly for the Cuban government, involving more than $1 billion USD in food subsidies every year, and that he would like to eliminate the system and its "unbearable burden for the economy" which he claimed produces "a disincentive to work". These remarks were received very negatively among Cubans, and Castro eventually reversed his proposal.
More strenuous rationing on food and other basics was imposed in May 2019 due to the country's economic problems, which resulted largely from a stiffening U.S. embargo, the loss of aid from Venezuela, and difficulties with the state-run oil company.
The vast majority of Cuban families rely, for their food intake, on the Libreta de Abastecimiento (literally, "Supplies booklet") distribution system, instated on 12 March 1962. The system establishes the rations each person is allowed to buy through the system, and the frequency of supplies. Most of these products are distributed at the local bodega (convenience store specialized in distributing these rations), and in the case of meat, poultry or fish, at the local carnicería (meat store). Other industrial products are also included in the libreta, such as cigarettes, cigars, matches and cooking fuels (liquified gas, alcohol, kerosene or even charcoal, depending on each person's means for cooking). Other products can also be distributed through this method, such as light bulbs and other home supplies.[citation needed]
Products included in the libreta vary according to age and sex. For example, children below 7 years old are provided 1 litre of milk per day, as are the elderly, the ill, and pregnant women. Adults above 65 years are entitled to different allowances, as well. Granting a special diet requires presentation of a medical certificate which confirms the health condition and what product requirements this condition has.[citation needed]
A Government office, specially created for this task, the OFICODA, distributes the libreta to all citizens each year, in the form of a small booklet.[citation needed] This booklet contains pages indicating the exact number and age groups of persons composing the family nucleus (typically, one booklet is released per family nucleus), as well as any dietary indications. A person's products are distributed only at the bodega that serves their area of official residence.[citation needed] A person cannot receive their products somewhere else, so each change of address requires returning to the OFICODA to update the booklet's data, and those living away from their registered addresses have to return to the previous area for their supplies.[citation needed]
Products distributed through the libreta mechanism are sold at subsidized prices, which have been kept more or less stable since its inception (the mean salary of a worker has varied very little since, as well). The libreta contains a page for every month, where the clerk marks what products were withdrawn, and in which quantities. Cubans are required to present the libreta each time they buy the rations.[citation needed]
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