Sunday, April 15, 2012

Havana and Its Spring With Scarcities and Rumors / Iván García

Havana and Its Spring With Scarcities and Rumors / Iván García
Iván García, Translator: Unstated

The flowers of the flamboyant on Havana's Santa Catalina Avenue already
began to change color. Majestic, shedding its flowers of yellow, orange
and red forming a carpet on the sidewalks.

People do not stop to see the wonderful spectacle of nature. They are
not into that. They walk with their heads down crates and bags in search
of their daily food.

They bend to the task, the daily putting of two meals on the table. It
is true that spring makes Havana good looking. The bright sun and
cloudless sky hides as it can, the spoilage, filth and ugliness of a
city that refuses, despite government apathy, to lose its charm, a city
flirty and different.

Indeed, while the spring season is upon us. There was barely winter here
in 2012. A few days cool and pleasant, no need to take out the old coats
and able to share the evening with friends and compadres.

But for most in the capital it's not about drinking a pitcher of beer in
a bar in Santa Catalina and watching the festival of flowers and colors.
Or sitting on the wall of the pier to watch the sunset. Even lovers of
poetry.

That is, the thing is hot. Right now, the pork, the perennial highlight
for a large segment of Cubans, is disappearing in combat and prices are
skyrocketing.

In the Diez de Octobre and Santa Catalina market, for a pound of pork
steak, thin, almost transparent, you must pay 40 pesos. For the shoulder
35, the same as the spine. Loaded with fat and bones, you have to watch
the butchers, they will cheat you shamelessly on the weight. And hurry
to buy, because at noon the stands are empty.

In the state markets the prices are cheaper. But for a couple of months
due to shortages, the employees kill time playing cards or drinking poor
quality rum.

Where are the pigs? Cubans are asking. According to official news, the
downturn has been brutal. From 11,000 tons in December 2011 to 4,000 in
January and February 2012.

Some 70% less. And to argue the reasons for the shortage they hide
behind a bunch of excuses, from bad workers, higher feed prices in the
international market, to the Yankee embargo that, as always, is to blame
for the bare shelves.

No wonder the news and newspapers on the island are classified as
science-fiction genre. Many buy the newspapers to wrap their trash or to
use as a substitute for toilet paper. In the best case, to see the
baseball results or take a look at the TV schedule.

Ordinary people are suffering the absence and higher prices for pork.
Even smoked meats like ham or the loin are also scarce.

The pig has become the main meal for the Cuban family. In any variation:
fried, broiled, fricassee with rice, tamales, chili sauce … also their
entrails, feet, head and, of course, the skin.

Along with chicken, the protein is often the most handy for Cubans. Beef
is a real treat. A pound cost 2.50 convertible pesos, when available in
the underground market.

Good quality fish is in the sea or in the refrigerators of the
mandarins. And there are not many pockets that can pay the excessive
prices. Remember that on average Cuban earns a salary of $20 per month.

Therefore, companies and construction sites are an embryonic black
market. In Cuba, whoever doesn't "invent" (steal) in their job, it is
because they receive remittances, he is an idealist or a fool.

Increasingly, many Havana families find it difficult to put a decent
meal on the table. Ask Reinaldo, 37, a school teacher, the days are rare
when he can fix rice, tomatoes and a piece of pork or chicken thighs.

"I do not receive even a dollar in remittances. I have to find a way to
get money. From burning bootleg CDs to selling to my students tests, 5
convertible pesos each. The money is lost," says the professor.

This lack of money has led to rumors that the "chavito" (the convertible
peso or CUC), could fall from 24 to 16 Cuban pesos for one. "That is
what people are saying, but no precise date is known," says the cashier
of a CADECA (official exchange house).

The issue of food is a national headache. It takes about 90% of the
money that a family receives. And so everyone may not always eat decently.

And it is not only pork where the prices are scandalous. A pound of
tomatoes costs between 6 and 7 pesos a pound. In the Sevillano
neighborhood, a street vendor sells lemons for 20 pesos a pound. And in
the neighborhood they grab them because the lemons are also gone.

"It's crazy," says Josefa a retiree receives 193 pesos a month. For
people like her, the sight of Santa Catalina flamboyant dropping its
flowers in the road means nothing.

His concern is getting food. And this spring, that is a problem.

Photo taken from "Cuba Out"

April 11 2012

http://translatingcuba.com/?p=17507

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