Brazilian theologian Frei Betto once again appeared on the Round Table program of Cuban Television to share one of his "teachings" with Cubans on how to turn necessity into a virtue.
The friend and admirer of the dictator Fidel Castro appeared once again on the official program as an advisor to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and an expert in "food sovereignty".
The mere announcement of his presence on the controversial news and debate program of the Cuban regime's television triggered a barrage of comments on social media, where many angry Cubans wondered what Betto's latest stunt would be.
With the memory of his previous appearance on this program, in which the Brazilian theologian gave some dietary advice, including frying potato peels -which he said are excellent "for snacking"- this Friday Cubans mocked the character and his "quips".
"The potato skin, for example, is excellent to snack on when having a drink. Fried is excellent," said the South American intellectual in March 2022.
Two years and three months later, and with food insecurity increasing in Cuba, Betto returned to the set of the program to encourage Cubans to "plant, even if it's just a few plants that allow making a sauce on the window of the house."
The result is going to arrive. It is a whole stage that we are already walking toward. Now, it is very important for people, especially those who have the ability at home, or in the neighboring empty area, or in the countryside, to cultivate, plant... even if it is just a few plants that allow making a sauce on the window sill of the house," he said.
Nostalgic for the leadership of the dictator to whom he dedicated his book "Fidel and Religion," the priest recalled the "initiatives" developed during the so-called "Special Period."
There wasn't an empty area in Havana. All the empty lands were transformed into gardens, and tubers and vegetables were planted and cultivated. That mobilization needs to be done now as well. The CDR, for example, can carry out that mobilization, and many are already doing this. It is very important," assessed the FAO advisor.
About to turn 80 years old, Frei Betto shares a "knowledge" that Cubans have been hearing for years in the speeches and propaganda of the regime, with prominent supporters of initiatives such as former spy Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, a doctor in the art of "Cultivating your little piece" and planting fruit trees in pots.
Four years ago, in June 2020, Hernández Nordelo called for the production of food in any possible space and to "make the most of every bit of land," in the midst of the harsh food, health, and economic crisis facing the island.
For this purpose, the Cuban government distributed a manual to the population with instructions on how to produce their own food in any cultivable space they may have access to, with the aim of individuals contributing not only to their own self-consumption but also to that of others.
"The continuation of what we have been doing so far depends on the contribution of all Cubans," Hernández Nordelo stated.
The newsletter "From the neighborhood, cultivate your little piece" was a document that urged the Cuban population to produce from home. To do this, it presented the concepts and principles of "family agriculture" and "food sovereignty."
One year after that initiative, in March 2021, the Prime Minister of the Cuban regime, Manuel Marrero Cruz, urged to "knock on the doors" of Cubans with backyard spaces to cultivate them. "The people do not eat plans," declared the obese leader.
However, the food deficit in the Cuban diet persists and agricultural production does not take off, neither in "small bits" nor in crop extensions. Perhaps, as Betto himself said (denying that there was hunger in Cuba), the problem is that "Cubans have a big appetite."
Perhaps for this reason, the Cuban ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel decided to change the slogans of the regime's propaganda and recently called on Cubans to "make do" with food and not wait for basic basket items.
"We have to reach the point where this country can self-sustain in terms of food... But that has to be believed in. And each municipality has to work hard to produce its own food! And not be thinking about what will come through the basket," he said.
Happy with the resilience shown by the Cuban people, the Brazilian theologian may bring to the FAO headquarters that latest concept of "Doctor Díaz-Canel's creative resistance: the 'guapería', an attitude towards life that the Cuban dictatorship seeks to turn into dietary doctrine.
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