Saint Vincent and the Grenadines donates 235 tons of flour to Cuba

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines will donate 235 tons of flour to Cuba, in the middle of thewidespread food crisis in the Caribbean nation, where the regime faces difficulties in completing the basic basket of the population, especially with serious effects on thedistribution of standardized bread.

A note from the official agencyLatin Press indicates that the shipment will arrive at the port of Mariel in the coming days.

The donation left the San Vicente country this Monday and was fired at an event attended by the Cuban ambassador designated in this country,Carlos Ernesto Rodríguez, the chancellor of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,Keysal Peters, and the CEO of the Eastern Caribbean Group of Companies,Robert Catohighlights a note issued by the Cuban embassy in that country.

Rodríguez, representing the Cuban government, thanked the Caribbean nation for the “solidarity and humanitarian” gesture, as well as “remembering that it demonstrates once again the solid relationship of brotherhood that exists between both nations and the commitment to continue strengthening them,” he points out.Latin Press.

Thirty years have passed since the relations between Cuba and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, which have gained momentum with thevisit of ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel to the island in December 2022, as part of a tour of Caribbean countries, andrecently in March 2024, regarding the VIII Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which was held in Kingstown, capital of that country.

Precisely, from his account on the social network X, the designated president thanked the prime ministerRalph Gonsalves for the donation and referred to the United States embargo on Cuba, its main justification for the shortage and crisis in the country.

At the end of February,Authorities of the Ministry of the Food Industry (MINAL) announced that until the end of March there will be severe effects on the delivery of bread from the regulated family basket. due to delays in the arrival of wheat shipments.

“Financial restrictions basically associated with the intensified blockade and the logistical limitations that Cuba suffers in bringing wheat from distant markets are the essential causes of the delay in the arrival of ships with the cereal,” explained a report from theNational Television News (NTV).

However, thearrival of a ship to the port of Santiago de Cuba, in mid-March, with 8,300 tons of wheat flour, helped stabilize bread production in the provinces from Ciego de Ávila to Guantánamo, as revealed by theCuban News Agency(ACN).

One week beforeanother ship with wheat had arrived through the port of Cienfuegos, which although it will not guarantee total consumption of bread production, would allow a gradual recovery of the arrears for the west and center of the country.

Despite the arrival of ships with wheat flour, the regime maintains theuse of extenders in the production of the product by up to 15 percent, which has led to alternatives with products such asthe yucca Othe pumpkin.

Even so, Cubans have to stand in huge lines to buy bread for the basic quota, as happenedin a neighborhood in the city of Guantanamo.