Rationing in Cuba - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Rationing in Cuba refers to the system of food distribution known in Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

as the Libreta de Abastecimiento ("Supplies booklet"). The system establishes the rations each person is allowed to buy through that system, and the frequency of supplies.

There has been discussion about abolishing it. On top of rationing, the average wage at the end of 2005 was 334 regular pesos per month ($16.70 per month) and average monthly pension was $9. It is rumoured that the rationing card, and the whole rationing system, will be abolished.

Overview

The vast majority of Cuban

Cubans

Cubans or Cuban people are the inhabitants or citizens of Cuba. Cuba is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...

families rely, for their food intake, on the Libreta de Abastecimiento (literally, "Supplies booklet") distribution system, instated on March 12, 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 fuel

Fuel

Fuel is any material that stores energy that can later be extracted to perform mechanical work in a controlled manner. Most fuels used by humans undergo combustion, a redox reaction in which a combustible substance releases energy after it ignites and reacts with the oxygen in the air...

s (liquified gas

Liquified petroleum gas

Liquefied petroleum gas is a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases used as a fuel in heating appliances and vehicles. It is increasingly used as an aerosol propellant and a refrigerant, replacing chlorofluorocarbons in an effort to reduce damage to the ozone layer...

, alcohol

Alcohol

In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....

, kerosene

Kerosene

Kerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage, also known as paraffin or paraffin oil in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Ireland and South Africa, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek keros...

or even charcoal

Charcoal

Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...

, 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.
Products included in the libreta vary according to age and gender. For example, children below 7 years old are provided 1 litre of milk

Milk

Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...

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.

A Government

Politics of Cuba

Cuba is constitutionally defined as a "socialist state guided by the principles of José Martí, and the political ideas of Marx, the father of communist states, Engels and Lenin." The present Constitution also ascribes the role of the Communist Party of Cuba to be the "leading force of society and...

office, specially created for this task, the OFICODA, distributes the libreta to all citizens each year, in the form of a small booklet. 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 eventual dietary indications. A person’s products are distributed only at the bodega that serves their area of official residence. 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.

Products distributed through the libreta mechanism are sold at subsidized

Subsidy

A subsidy is an assistance paid to a business or economic sector. Most subsidies are made by the government to producers or distributors in an industry to prevent the decline of that industry or an increase in the prices of its products or simply to encourage it to hire more labor A subsidy (also...

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.

At its inception, the rationing system included not only food products, but industrial products as well. Along with the libreta, a tear-off coupon

Coupon

In marketing, a coupon is a ticket or document that can be exchanged for a financial discount or rebate when purchasing a product. Customarily, coupons are issued by manufacturers of consumer packaged goods or by retailers, to be used in retail stores as a part of sales promotions...

booklet was distributed, whose purpose was to set the allowances for industrial products, mainly clothing, shoes, and home products, as well as rationing the toys sold to families with children (which were allowed 3 different toys per child per year, usually sold near or at January 6, the Three Kings Day, or Día de Reyes). After the demise of the Eastern Bloc

Eastern bloc

The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...

in 1991, Cuba entered the "Special Period

Special Period

The Special Period in Time of Peace in Cuba was an extended period of economic crisis that began in 1991 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and, by extension, the Comecon. The economic depression of the Special Period was at its most severe in the early-to-mid 1990s before slightly declining...

" and industrial products were no longer distributed through this system.

A specific set of law

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

s regulate the functioning of the system, as well as establishing penalties for its misuse. Most irregularities deal with clerks not signing the products in the booklet, or signing them incorrectly, and weighting of the products distributed. Citizens could be legally liable if they don't promptly inform the local OFICODA of any changes in the composition of the family nucleus.

Standard rations

A table follows that illustrates the standard ration distributed through this system. Figures are per person, per month. An indication of the subsidized prices is given, as well. Allowances vary from year to year, so these should be understood as approximate figures, based on year 2000 data:

**(Source: http://cubamigo.org/merengue123/alimentacion.html)**
Product	Quantity	Price (CUP Cuban peso The peso is one of two official currencies in use in Cuba, the other being the convertible peso... )
Rice	6 pounds (2.7 kg)	0.70 / lb
Beans	20 ounces (567 g)	0.32 / lb
White (refined) sugar	3 pounds (1.4 kg)	0.15 / lb
Dark (unrefined) sugar	3 pounds (1.4 kg)	0.10 / lb
Milk (only children under 7 years)	1 lt / day	0.25 / each
Eggs (*)	12	0.15 each
Potatoes/bananas	15 pounds (6.8 kg)	0.40 / lb
(*) Only from September through December.

Meat products are distributed separately, if available, following a different rationale. These are distributed each 15 days, and usually rotate (that is, the product type changes on each delivery). Fish, beef, ground beef (usually mixed with soy), chicken, sausages and ham fall in this category. Quantities, and prices, differ for each meat product (beef, ½ lb/person each 15 days, whereas chicken is 1 lb/person each 15 days).

It must be said that distribution is not always prompt, and product delivery is frequently delayed (for example, if one month there were no beans to distribute, they usually cumulate for next month, although this is not always the case). Such delays are most evident in beef distribution. The fact that products are not available at the bodega always, but arrive in a more or less random manner, creates long queues when products arrive, which sometimes makes buying the products a quite lengthy process. So, this required a mechanism to be invented so that people with special needs, such as old persons and pregnant women, had precedence on the queue. This mechanism became known as Plan Jaba (jaba is the name for some sort of rudimentary shopping bag, usually made of fabric). Jaba or Java is a word for a flexible basket or bag taken from the vocabulary of Neo-Taino nations

Neo-Taino nations

Neo-Taino nations are defined here as the assorted nations of the Caribbean islands, that together with the Tainos, were described on the arrival of European chroniclers or which arose after this historic record was established.-Introduction:...

and originally was made of dried woven strips from palm fronds.

It was estimated in the early 2000s that the rationing covered between one third and one half of a family's needs.

However President Raul Castro has moved to eliminate many products from the rationing system, including potatoes and peas.

Other sources

The libreta is not the only means of acquiring goods available to a Cuban citizen, as many of these and other products are freely available on the mercado libre (free market) and mercado paralelo (parallel market), and in the numerous supermarkets and stores that sell goods in convertible pesos

Cuban convertible peso

The convertible peso , is one of two official currencies in Cuba, the other being the peso. It has been in limited use since 1994, when it was treated as equivalent to the U.S. dollar: its value was officially US$1.00. On November 8, 2004, the U.S...

or euros. (Such stores were originally set up taking United States Dollars and were referred to as "dollar stores

Dollar store (Cuba)

During the period from 1993 to 2004 when the United States dollar was legal tender in Cuba, government-owned shops that exchanged solely in hard currency originally mainly to foreigners were colloquially called "Dollar stores"...

". They began catering for foreigners but many are used mainly by Cubans). In addition, Cuba has an active black market (mercado negro, often described as por la izquierda - by the left hand) in many goods. Black market goods may be simply items sold by unlicenced vendors (for example, fish caught and sold directly, or home-made items), or may be stolen goods.

Many Cubans rely upon connections and barter, or "sociolismo

Sociolismo

Sociolismo also known as amiguismo meaning "partner-ism" or "friend-ism" is the informal term used in Cuba to describe the reciprocal exchange of favors by individuals, usually relating to circumventing bureaucratic restrictions or obtaining hard-to-find goods.It comes from the Spanish word socio...

", to obtain the items they need.

Government justification for the rationing

The Cuban government states this method of distribution serves to ensure each citizen a minimum intake of food, regardless of the person’s social and economical status, and has publicized plans for its demise (although specific dates have not been provided). It also stresses that the libreta is not the only means of acquiring goods available to a Cuban citizen, as these and other products are freely available on the mercado libre and mercado paralelo, and of course in the numerous supermarkets and stores that sell goods in convertible pesos

Cuban convertible peso

or euros. The prices in the ration book are about 20 times lower than the free market. It says as well that humanitarian aid received from other countries is distributed through this method in a fair and equitable manner. The official stance on this subject is that of being undesirable, but unavoidable and fair.

The government recognizes that the rations distributed by this system are not sufficient to maintain adequate sustenance by themselves. The government also says that rations are not used for political leverage, and distributes the subsidized food equally to all citizens, regardless of their political

Politics

Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...

views or judicial status.

Criticisms

Detractors question the fairness of this method as well as its purpose, and stress its deficiencies, such as a historical decrement of the delivery frequency and quantities of goods distributed and. In their opinion, this method creates profound economical differences within the Cuban people, dividing the country in half: those that can afford the higher prices of goods in convertible pesos

Cuban convertible peso

or in the mercado libre, and those that simply can not.

Critics also accuse the Cuban government of using this system to exert control over the Cuban people. As this system controls the delivery of goods and represents the largest means of sustainment for most Cuban families (salaries being paid in Cuban Pesos

Cuban peso

The peso is one of two official currencies in use in Cuba, the other being the convertible peso...

), detractors assure the government is thus capable of preventing and punishing dissidents by resorting to the fear of being suspended from the distribution of rations.

They assure humanitarian aid is not being distributed as claimed by the government. They stress, as well, the fact that the measure was adopted by the Cuban government in 1962 as a temporary palliative to a crisis and has lasted for over 44 years.

Enforcement

Enforcement is severe by western standards. For instance:

“That's because a person can get more jail time for killing a cow than killing a human, under Cuban law. Cow killers can get four to 10 years in prison under a toughened crime law adopted in January (2004). Those who transport or sell the meat from an illegally slaughtered cow can get three to eight years. Providing beef at an unauthorized restaurant or workplace can fetch two to five years. And buying contraband beef is punishable by three months to one year in jail or a steep fine. Authorities also have the power to confiscate all or part of the property of anyone involved in black-market cattle dealings.”

Overview

Standard rations

Other sources

Government justification for the rationing

Criticisms

Enforcement

See also