This is how the "potato mafia" operates in Cuba.

Potatoes, an essential food in the Cuban diet, have become scarce throughout the year. This tuber, in high demand among the population, is only available formally through the ration card in small quantities and with variable quality during the harvest season.

State distribution, micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), self-employed workers, and the black market are the economic actors involved, but it is in the latter where the supply of potatoes is more consistent, although at prohibitive prices for the average Cuban worker.

In the black market, the price of a pound of potatoes ranges between 150 and 200 pesos, depending on its quality. There are several ways to acquire it: by placing an order, carried out through social networks and with home delivery for an additional cost, or through secretive street vendors, who operate under the constant risk of being discovered by the police or inspectors, which could result in severe fines.

An analysis published by the non-governmental organization Food Monitor Program questioned where the potatoes sold on the black market come from, as the State is the only authorized entity to import, produce, and market them in the country.

The answer lies in a complex network of corruption and embezzlement of resources that involves different actors of the state distribution system, stated the NGO in an article published this Tuesday on its website.

Potatoes in Cuba have two origins: importation and domestic production, both strictly controlled by the State. However, once the tuber enters the national distribution network, a network of corruption is activated that spans the entire country.

Storekeepers, transporters, operators of state agro-markets, and regular citizens are part of this corrupt network. The natural loss of the product is used as an excuse to justify the tons of potatoes that disappear in the distribution chain.

From wholesale stores to community farms, the diversion of resources is common. Sacks of potatoes are diverted and illegally sold to stevedores and drivers during transportation.

In the markets, managers prefer to receive deliveries on Saturday afternoons to take advantage of corruption, as they are closed on Sundays and on Mondays they justify losses with rotten potatoes, allowing the illegal sale of the remaining sacks.

Retail resellers are the last link in this chain of corruption. These individuals, formed through years of illegal business, have the necessary contacts to guarantee a constant supply of potatoes. They operate in local agricultural markets and some state-run points, selling the potatoes in their homes or through home delivery via social media. The most powerful ones have distributors who sell the product in small quantities at exorbitant prices.

The most affected are ordinary citizens, who cannot access potatoes at affordable prices. Beyond individual and institutional responsibilities, the root of the problem lies in collectivist agri-food policies and the lack of incentives for food production in Cuba.

The totalitarian system does not have effective answers to these problems, as true economic openness would undermine its own sociopolitical foundations. Hunger and scarcity in Cuba have become everyday phenomena, highlighting the need for a structural change to address this food crisis.

The Food Monitor Program considers it evident that the right to food has been used as an instrument of domination in Cuba since the introduction of the ration book in March 1962.

Starting from the assumption that the increased intervention of the State-Party eliminated citizens' agency, transformed their dietary practices, controlled their time, and managed their private lives, its experts point out that the promise of the so-called "revolution" to guarantee social and economic rights such as food was paid for by the subtraction of civil and political rights.

The Food Monitor Program aims to deconstruct the myth of food sovereignty in Cuba, dismantling the justifications for the blockade and exposing its political instrumentalization. Additionally, it aims to prevent these models from continuing to be promoted in the region and serving as a means to dismantle democracy and the rule of law.