Rice from the warehouse arrives in the eastern provinces almost a month late.

Like a version of the never-ending story or the popular tale of the "magic pipe", the issue of the basic food basket returns to the news agenda of Cuba this Monday, because the quota rice has finally arrived to the families in the eastern provinces.

Just a few days away from closing June, the cereal will be distributed to the community centers, as reported by the provincial coordinator of Commerce and Services, Edelva Marín, in statements to the state-owned Canal Caribe, cited by the official newspaper Granma.

Highlighted by the Ministry of Internal Trade (MINCIN) on the social network X, the unloading of the product began last Friday at the Guillermón Moncada port in Santiago de Cuba, which allows restoring the distribution that was usually carried out in the early days of each month.

With this importation, "the kilo for the age group and the one that will be donated to all consumers this month" will be guaranteed, as well as four pounds per person, added the official.

"We are going to make a direct shot so that it reaches the population in the shortest time possible, and then the three pounds will be completed, plus the supplement," he explained.

Likewise, MINCIN reported that the arrival of this ship at the port of Santiago will allow fulfilling commitments in Granma.

While it is true that the arrival of rice is an incentive for the people, this only represents the tip of the iceberg in terms of the regulated family basket, as the past few months have been characterized by the delayed delivery of products (which are becoming scarcer every day), with some even disappearing for months, as was the case with coffee and oil, among others.

Among other factors, delays are caused by the lack of domestic production and the need to resort to imports to address the situation which, in the case of rice, requires 700 thousand tons to cover the basic basket and the so-called "social consumption" (hospitals, schools, workers' dining rooms and military units).

Since the beginning of the year, delays with the food basket have been a recurring topic among the population, and precisely on May 22nd, Betsy Díaz Velázquez, Minister of Internal Trade, tried to justify the situation on the official television program Mesa Redonda.

In his words, three or four years ago, at the beginning of each month the product was in the warehouses, now it is necessary to "unload the ships, transport them to the provincial centers, then they are moved to the municipalities, and then they go to the network of warehouses. (...) It is very difficult to manage the timing, when you only depend on imports."

In your opinion, the responsibility lies in the work of the ports, distribution mechanisms, and even the weather; meanwhile, the population suffers from decreased quality, delays of up to several months in deliveries, the replacement of milk with other products; and delays in the distribution of food for vulnerable groups, such as meat for children and pregnant women.