Police seize more than 1,600 pounds of cheese on buses bound for Havana

A total of thirteen Cubans from the Placetas municipality, in Villa Clara, were detained while they were traveling on a Yutong bus.1,614 pounds of cheese that they were going to sell in Havana, according to the official Facebook profile “Fuerza del pueblo”, which described those involved as “hoarders”.

The aforementioned source explained that in the early morning of March 21, agents from the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) of Placetas carried out an operation on a bus that they intercepted when it was going to Fomento, in which they seized the cheese.

“The PNR arrested 13 hoarders who were dedicated to moving the product, weekly, to the capital for marketing, violating the provisions of the agreements with state entities, to guarantee milk to children.”, specified Fuerza del pueblo.

According to the aforementioned source, the intervened cheese was delivered entirely by the MININT to the Dairy Products Company (ECIL) "to optimize its quality" and allocate it "for social consumption."

In the final segment, the publication said that “once again the MININT will comply with what is established and preserve the guarantees of the people in protection of the most vulnerable.”

In the comments section, numerous Internet users reacted indignantly and recalled that the government does not sell any cheese to the population at a reasonable price.

“Hoarders? My God, aren't you ashamed to post those posts? If they sold the cheese to the population at a fair price and there was enough for every time they wanted, these things would not happen, but also thanks to that poor man who sacrificedly searched for the cheese, people could half eat," observed one Internet user.

“The government does not sell cheese. Let people sell and you will see how everything improves. It's cheese, it's not bad at all”; “Social consumption, what nerve!”;“Will they have a face? That's how we only eat cheese. The one from the States is in MLC”, were other opinions.

“That cheese was intended to be exchanged for fuel. Havana residents need to eat and we need to travel. It is a fair change,” observed one woman.

On the opposite side, someone said that diverting production that has been contracted with the State, often on land leased to the state, is a crime.

However, one farmer protested and explained why they are forced to do things like that.

“That is not living off the sweat of others, that is called necessity because the State pays us guajiros that cheese at 72 pesos and on the street they pay us at 380 and 400. Who would you sell it to? So, that same cheese that the State pays for at a low price, they later sell at a price similar to that of the resellers,” he complained.

A commentator supported this point of view and noted that the guajiros sell the cheese to the State for 72 pesos per pound, but the reality is that they then go to town to buy a pair of shoes and it costs them like anyone else.