Cuban Revelations: Behind the Scenes in Havana by Marc Frank

Author:Marc Frank [Frank, Marc]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Caribbean & West Indies, Cuba, Foreign Affairs, History, International Relations, Political Science, Politics & Government, Social Conditions, Social Science, United States
ISBN: 9780813044651
Google: OJMcmQEACAAJ
Amazon: B00F8OEGO4
Publisher: University Press of Florida
Published: 2013-07-15T03:00:00+00:00

Most Cubans appeared to support Raúl Castro's efforts but believed that they were not at fault and were at the mercy of a state bureaucracy that they expected him to tame. Many were insulted by the editorial. “Our ability to do a good job doesn't depend on us, but on guidelines from the ministry. I can't plan anything, because they decide the factory's work and supplies and that's where the problems are and continue,” said Carlos, an industrial worker. An overweight employee of a dark and dingy state-run cafeteria in Central Havana, which sold cold hot dogs, flavored sugar water, and dangerous-looking pastries from a fly-infested counter, blamed the lack of supplies and low wages for the dismal merchandise on offer. She frowned at the suggestion that she might be able to improve it. Many farmers had a hard time criticizing themselves for the country's poor agricultural performance, because the state was only then beginning to lease millions of acres of fallow land that it had sat on for years and recognizing that a monopoly on farm supplies and sales often led to lost crops. “Farmers have never wanted the state to give them anything. What we want is that the state sells us what we need to produce and then not waste it because of poor planning, transportation, and other problems,” a farmer friend in Camagüey said.

Another friend, responsible for organizing more than a dozen block-organization discussions in eastern Cuba, said that in the end the official agenda was scrapped in favor of a discussion about how to improve their daily work, a theme already discussed numerous times over the years. “It's too bad the material was so extensive and did not allow for an analysis of every point,” said Lidia, a Havana teacher. A Havana retiree said that his community Party organization called it quits after three hours, having discussed just the first three items of the ten-point agenda.

A phone survey of people who were either involved in or had knowledge of dozens of meetings held across Cuba indicated there was near-unanimous opposition to eliminating the food ration without a clear explanation of what would replace it and how those who really needed help would eat. “I know the ration has to go, but you have to study carefully how you do it, because many people depend on it to eat, most of all those who don't receive any foreign currency from somewhere,” Guantánamo retiree Pedro de la Fuente said in a telephone interview. Over the next year, the potatoes, chickpeas, one of five pounds of sugar per individual per month, and the cigarettes would be removed from the subsidized ration, while still available at state shops at higher prices. Then soap, detergent, and toothpaste were removed, as the government opted for a gradual approach to elimination. The coffee allotment was diluted in 2011 when roasted chickpeas were mixed in. Nothing further was eliminated in 2012 and the first months of 2013.

Cubans would again be called to discuss

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