Some may think food shortages and starvation are just a nasty side effect of socialism, but in fact, it is by design. When you keep people hungry, they spend their time looking for food, not freedom. That has been the case in communist Cuba for the past 65 years. The Cuban people don’t have much time to think about freedom when they have to dedicate all their efforts to finding enough food to survive just one more day.
Survey shows food security is the main concern for Cubans
In December 2023, the Cuba 21st Century Ideas Laboratory conducted a survey to understand citizen perceptions regarding the most pressing issues and basic freedoms in Cuba. This study was carried out through 15 focus groups, one per province, with participants of diverse ages, genders, occupations, and geographical areas of the country. Although they do not represent the entire population, they offer a relevant overview of the concerns and priorities of Cubans today.
Priority Issues:
- Food: 99% of participants identified food as the main issue, highlighting the lack of availability and diversity of food. 79% ranked it as the top priority.
- Public Health and Sanitation: 58% pointed to health and sanitation as the second urgent matter, with 30% considering it the primary one.
- Electricity: The stability of the electrical supply was relevant to 56% of participants, ranking as the third priority. Public
- Insecurity: 40% highlighted crime and corruption as the fourth priority.
- Education: 45% considered educational quality the fifth priority.
- Public Transportation: 33% emphasized the need to improve public transportation, ranking it sixth in priorities.
The prominence of food as the main issue stems from the fact that the nutrition of the majority of the population in Cuba is severely deficient. This is especially true for children and adolescents, whose physical and intellectual development is being affected irreversibly, and for the elderly, many of whom have endured 64 years of rationing, hard labor, and difficult living conditions. Remittances, although not reaching the majority of the population, are even more necessary to acquire expensive foods in the micro-enterprises that, despite everything, proliferate in the neighborhoods.
Basic Freedoms:
- Economic Freedom: 66% of participants considered economic freedom a priority for solving problems in Cuba, followed by 26% who ranked it second.
- Freedom of Thought, Expression, and Communication: This freedom, which includes an independent press and the right to protest, was rated as the number one priority by 33% of participants and as the second most important by 48%. Additionally, there was unanimity among participants regarding the demand for the immediate and unconditional release of the more than 1,000 political prisoners as an essential precondition for any conversation or negotiation with the Cuban government, both nationally and internationally.
In the conclusions of its report, Cuba 21st Century pointed out that the survey results reflect the diversity of concerns and aspirations within Cuban society. Although absolute consensus is not sought, the identified similarities and differences offer valuable insights into citizen perceptions. It is evident that the prioritization of issues reflects the basic and urgent needs of the population, while the demand for fundamental freedoms underscores the desire for significant change in Cuba’s political and social landscape.
Causes of Hunger on the Island, According to 21st Century:
A recent study by economist Emilio Morales, president of Havana Consulting Group and vice president of the Cuba 21st Century Ideas Laboratory, explained that one of the main reasons for the current food crisis in Cuba is the economic policy of the Cuban regime, which has favored the interests of the oligarchy represented by GAESA, the business conglomerate of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR).
In his analysis, Morales recalls that when the Cuban government announced a process of reforms for the transformation of the economy in 2010, one of the fundamental objectives was to stimulate national agricultural production to reduce food imports. However, this objective has not been achieved.
Morales also explains that the failure of the reform process is due to GAESA blocking private food producers, whether farmers or foreign investors.
The long queues to purchase imported chickens at exorbitant prices could be avoided if the oligarchy prioritized national development over GAESA’s monopolistic profits.
In its conclusions, the study insists that the food crisis in Cuba is the result of a governance regime that favors the interests of the oligarchy and blocks the development of national production.