Lying on the floor and in poor condition, this is how they sell potatoes to workers at a polyclinic in Havana

This Wednesday, a Cuban woman denounced the sale ofpapas “rotten” to health personnel in theGuanabacoa polyclinic, In the Habana.

“The rotten potato for public health workers!”wrote Damaris Domínguez on Facebook, and accompanied her complaint with a short video and a couple of photos that summarize the desperation associated with theshortage and food shortages.

The scene allows us to further distinguish a dozen people crowded around several sacks of potatoes placed on the ground.The tuber looks wet and does not look very good, but there are still several people interested in the product.

In times of scarcity like those experienced by the Cuban people, many consider thatthe quality of the food is a luxury, hence resignation is associated with images ofsale of meat lacking the necessary refrigeration and other similar scenes.

The publication generated several indignant comments: “what a shame!”; "what disgusting!"; "that's what they deserve...as long as they don't have the moral dignity to say enough is enough"; “there you have CONTINUITY", and others similar.

“Those are the achievements of the dictatorship. If we continue to remain silent we will have 60 more years of poverty, while they live the good life.”, declared an Internet user.

Say in any Cuban neighborhood that"The potato has arrived!" is to announce a long-awaited event, marked not only by the promise of a plate of food on the table, but also by long lines and associated stress.

The potato in Cuba is a basic food that for years has not been enough to meet the demand of the people due to the low production levels of the precious tuber in the country.

On occasions, the Cuban leadership has even referred to the potato as a “national security issue,” and in extreme situations it has been used as a “prize” or “social calming.”

In June 2018, Díaz-Canel generated ridicule and indignation - in equal parts - when he announced with great fanfarethe allocation of 2 pounds of potatoes per personafter the passage of subtropical storm Alberto.

Although the potato was now sold in a polyclinic in Guanabacoa, the crisis that these images represent is extensive throughout the country. A couple of months ago the Cuban psychiatrist, Sergio Pérez, published images of along queue to buy food at the 13 de Marzo polyclinic, in Bayamo, Granma province.

"This is the socialist inefficiency in which you have to stand in line to buy, at a high price, a little food, fulfilling the socialist principle of making life difficult for yourself," the specialist denounced on Facebook along with images of a crowd in a hospital center.

In that case, the "prize" was a module that consisted of 2 packages of sausages, 1 of chicken, 2 soaps, 3 of detergent, 1 cologne, 1 package of sanitary pads, 1 shampoo, 1 cream, 1 toothpaste and a can of condensed milk at 625 Cuban pesos.

“The saddest thing is everything that the health personnel have given to their people, incalculable hours and sacrifices for anyone and the shit that the government pays them with is this and other worse things, the saddest thing is the conformism and resignation to knowing how bad things are,” stated an Internet user at the time, a criterion that fits the potato sold in a polyclinic in Havana two months later.