Government raises price of bread in Pinar del Río

The provincial authoritiesPinewood of the river announced the decision ofbump the price of bread starting this Wednesday, a measure that will affect all those dedicated to the retail sale of this basic food.

Before thebread shortage on the island, aggravated by the economic crisis andthe inability of the Cuban government to supply itself with flour In the international market, the communist regime has once again opted for its policy of capping prices as a way to control inflation.

“As of Wednesday, April 24, Resolution 32 of the Governor of Pinar del Río comes into force, in which, in accordance with current legislation and in accordance with the powers conferred upon his office, he resolves to approve maximum retail prices for the commercialization of” bread, he reported in hissocial networks the government of that province.

In that sense, they determinedfind the prices of the following products:

• Bag of bread (35 g) with 8 units (280 g) at 130 CUP
• Bag of bread (40 g) with 8 units (320 g) at 150 CUP
• Bag of bread (60 g) with 8 units (480 g) at 180 CUP
• Telera bread (200 g) per unit at 120 CUP

Likewise, they stressed that “These prices apply to all economic actors in the province”.

Bread in Pinar del Río: Between the quality of the "extenders" and the tensions with MSMEs

At the end of February, the government of Pinar del Río announced that it could only guarantee bread from the regulated family basket (sold through the supply booklet) to children under 14 years of age.

This was announced to the official mediaGuerrilla the director of the Provincial Company of the Food Industry in Pinar del Río,Oviamna Martínez Barrera, indicating thatthe bread would be given to children from 0 to 14 years old, in all municipalities, for a total of 85,230 consumers.

Given the insufficient availability of wheat flour in the country, the authorities decided to make bread using the so-called flour "extenders", which include pumpkin puree and cassava flour.

Pinar del Río needs 36 tons of flour daily to make the bread that its population consumes. Since February 10, they reduced that amount to 30.5 tons and made up the difference with the "extenders."

At the end of April of last year, the Cuban Bread Chain in Pinar del Río announced the signing of work agreements withMSMEs of the province for the production of bread, news that was received with skepticism by some citizens who expressed concerns about its sales price.

As explained by the head of the entity's Productive Technical Group,Roberto Pérez del Llano, MSMEs would be responsible for the supply of raw materials, while the workers of the Cuban Bread Chain units would produce the products.

"They are going to have a differentiated price. Due to the situation that the country has with wheat flour, which is the fundamental raw material, the question is to acquire it through non-state management, although it comes at a much higher price than what the country offers us," Pérez del Llano toldRadio Guama.

The information generated comments from citizens outraged with the prices of bread. "It is a tremendous abuse that the State itself sets these prices... Imagine the worker who cannot live off of any invention and his salary is 2,500 pesos a month and he has one or two children, or a university student. Not to mention, these prices are not "They made them for Cubans... Behind that someone is benefiting."

"It's sad to see a pound for 130 pesos. How many children there are who cannot eat that bread at that price. Understand that not all Cubans can buy it and that there are thousands of children in schools," criticized another Internet user.

In March, the government of Pinar del Río confirmed that bread from the supply book was guaranteed for children under 14 years of age. This is what he reaffirmedJesus Alberto Moreno, productive technical deputy director of the Food Industry, when he admitted that “we can only give bread to those children and nothing more.”

In a report published by local televisionTelePinar The development of this product was praised, as well asthey ensured they had enough pumpkin for the preparationn throughout the “temporality” of this measure.

The deputy director of the Food Industry in that province,Yuliesky Padilla, assured that there was joint work between said institution and the farmers producing pumpkin and cassava, of whom he said that "they have given a positive response to the fact that there is such a deficit of flour and we demand this product."

The use of the so-called "extenders", so celebrated by the leaders of the Cuban regime as an example of "creative resistance", nevertheless leaves signs of widespread concern among Cubans who suffer from the risk of food insecurity.

In mid-May 2023, Cuban residents in Pinar del RíoThey were dismayed by the poor appearance and quality of the bread that the State sold in its warehouses..

"What they gave today is another lack of respect for the population. This bread today is disgusting to touch and what do we do? Who do we complain to? Who can give us an answer? The only bread they give us a day and look the conditions,” an outraged woman from Pinar del Río wrote on Facebook, accompanying her complaint with three photos that confirmed the bad appearance of the product in question.

Added to the poor quality of the bread is the decrease in its quantity, sometimes decreed by the authorities, and sometimes the result of theft committed by directors and employees of the bakeries themselves.

Fines from the authorities, such as those imposed in January 2023 by the Pinar del Río authorities, do not solve this problem, which constantly appears in bakeries throughout the country.

The shortage of flour, and therefore bread, only accentuates the food crisis caused by the so-called "continuity" government. Sanctions and price caps do not seem to be effective policies to correctrunaway inflation that threatens the purchasing power of Cubans every day.