Roasting a pig on Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) is a Cuban tradition all Cubans enjoyed regardless of their social station. The abundance of pork and its relatively low price made this traditional Christmas meal accessible to everyone, both rich and poor. However, in communist Cuba, skyrocketing inflation and plummeting production has turned this once easily obtainable Christmas staple into a luxury.
Via Marti Noticias (my translation):
The production of pork plummeted dramatically from around 200,000 tons in 2017 to just over 13,000 last year, driving the price of a pound of the coveted product, when available, up to 700 pesos.
In the last five years, Cuba has lost more than 85% of its pork production, and its price has skyrocketed to the point of being unaffordable for many residents on the island, who this Christmas Eve will have to settle for another dish instead of the traditional roast pig.
In 2020, the price of pork ranged between 40 and 50 pesos in the national currency per pound, while the most recent data on minimum and maximum prices from the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) places it at around 700 pesos, approximately one-third of Cuba’s minimum salary (about 2,100 pesos per month).
Starting in 2017, thousands of self-employed producers supplied the state with approximately 200,000 tons of pork annually. In 2023, production ended with the lowest figure in history, at just 13,300 tons, according to official figures cited on the state television program Mesa Redonda.
Many entrepreneurs abandoned the economic activity due to the state’s failure to honor contracts and the lack of resources, while others left the country. Some suffered increasingly severe state regulations and faced judicial proceedings for charges such as bribery and enrichment.
Only socialism can make a commodity that was once abundant and affordable into one that is expensive and hard to find. This isn’t a bug in socialism, it’s a feature.
Oh, but who needs pork when you get “free” (third-world) health care?