The Castro regime likes to have it both ways, where they can blame the U.S. for its failures and get a lifeline from the U.S. to cover them up. For those who think eliminating sanctions against the communist Castro dictatorship would take away their excuses, here you see that would never be the case. Like all leftists, the Cuban regime will always blame others for their failed policies and never take responsibility for their actions.
Via Diario de Cuba (my translation):
The Cuban regime blames the ‘blockade’ for the shortage of milk and announces it is buying 500 tons… from the U.S.
Nearly a week after EFE reported that the Cuban regime requested assistance from the World Food Programme (WFP) due to its inability to sustain milk deliveries through the rationing book to children under seven years old, pregnant women, and chronically ill patients, state-run media confirmed this request, but blamed the U.S. embargo against Havana for its inability to cope with these supplies.
In an extensive text published by the official site Cubadebate, which consistently avoids mentioning the erratic livestock promotion and milk procurement policies of the government that have sunk food production and made the country dependent on foreign purchases, the request to the WFP is justified as a result of “a long-standing relationship.”
According to the text, “the WFP is a food assistance agency of the United Nations (UN), which supports more than 120 countries and territories. As part of this alliance, a Basic Agreement was signed between our Government and the WFP in 1993, still in force. In July 2021, the Executive Board of the Programme approved the Country Strategic Plan for Cuba until 2024, the framework under which the bilateral relationship is currently being developed.”
According to the text, which also does not acknowledge that this request for assistance occurs outside the aforementioned protocols, Cuba has also made sugar contributions to the program, which amounted to over 8 million dollars until 2009.
Cubadebate avoids mentioning that the also devastating decline in the production of this traditional sector of the Cuban economy has caused Havana to stop making such donations.
Instead, the note blames “the combined effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the impacts of adverse weather events, and primarily, the intensification of the economic, commercial, and financial blockade by the US,” as well as the inclusion of the regime among state sponsors of terrorism by Washington, for the milk supply crisis.
The note ensures that “the arrival in the coming days of a ship from Brazil, with 375 tons of powdered milk, has been secured, ensuring distribution for children aged zero to six.”
And, paradoxically, it indicates that “additionally, 500 tons of milk have been contracted with the US, under the exceptions established by that Government to sell certain products to the Island, through immediate cash payment; as well as 245 from Canada, 500 more from Brazil, and 600 from other suppliers.”
The text makes a serious mistake by asserting that the shipment from Brazil will arrive “in the coming days.” Last week, instead, Alberto López Díaz, Minister of the Food Industry, said in a press conference cited by the state-run Cuban News Agency and replicated by Cubadebate, that after “serious difficulties with the product, distribution has already begun, thanks to the arrival in Cuba of 375 tons from Brazil, and other arrivals are expected to ensure stability for children aged zero to six.”
Then, the note lies when it assures that the sale of powdered milk to children from birth to six years old “has been guaranteed uninterrupted, even in years when the situation of the national economy has been more complex.”
Again, Minister López Díaz contradicts Cubadebate. The official stated in his appearance before the press that in February, a milk formula was distributed in several provinces, “which, although it does not have the amount of protein that milk should have, was a dietary alternative.” This formula provoked complaints from numerous Cuban mothers, who denounced its poor quality. In other territories, a syrup has been distributed for months, which raised abundant criticism. In other words, it is false that milk “has been guaranteed uninterrupted,” and the Cubans know it.
The note also hides the fact that milk producers in Cuba prefer to sell the product on the black market, at supply and demand prices. The skyrocketing inflation suffered by the Island makes the price paid by the State laughable for the costs that producers must cover to maintain their livestock. Likewise, in numerous cases, payments from the Ministry of Agriculture for this collection are delayed and turn into enormous debts.
EFE confirmed that the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment (MINCEX) sent a letter to the executive direction of the WFP in Rome at the end of last year, as a result of which the organization delivered “144 metric tons of skimmed milk powder” benefiting “almost 48,000 girls and boys aged seven months to three years in Pinar del Río and Havana.” This represents only 6% of the children to whom the Government sells subsidized milk.
Furthermore, according to the WFP, the Cuban government’s request “does not refer to any explicit time frame”—it does not request support for a limited period—so the multilateral organization is seeking to “mobilize additional resources.”
“We are in constant dialogue with traditional and non-traditional donors, exploring various options to facilitate both donation and financing,” the WFP stated.
EFE was able to confirm that at least two unspecified countries, one in Europe and one in America, have been contacted by the WFP. Both are currently analyzing their possibilities and have not made a decision.
Economist Pedro Monreal criticized that the regime’s propaganda machinery omits the issue while focusing on defending oppressive policies that keep agriculture and livestock constrained.
“Food security crisis using the Rashomon effect: the same story from different perspectives. Foreign press reports humanitarian aid request to the UN. National press continues with land and cattle ownership control,” the analyst wrote on his X account.
This situation adds to the shortage of basic products, from all kinds of food to fuels and medicines. In recent months, several products that are still distributed through the rationing booklet, such as rice, coffee, or oil, have been irregularly distributed or in reduced quantities.
Recently, the Cuban government acknowledged being unable to ensure the supply of bread rations until the end of March due to problems with flour supply.
Castro, Inc. will ALWAYS have an excuse, since it can simply manufacture one to suit itself.