Santiago de Cuba: Government only ensures 7 days of milk for children

Amid increasing concern over the shortage of basic products, the government of Santiago de Cuba began distributing milk for children aged two to six on Saturday, ensuring only enough product for the next seven days.

The Dairy Products Company of Santiago de Cuba informed on Facebook that distribution will be carried out “as quickly as possible,” although it justified potential delays due to the “sequential entry of containers.”

The brief note published by the dairy company did not specify what will happen to children up to one year old, which left many doubts among internet users.

The statement also did not clarify what will happen after the seven days of milk coverage, leaving families, who already suffer from the constant scarcity of food and basic products, uncertain about how they will cope once these limited rations run out.

In the comments section, the Dairy Products Company of Santiago de Cuba attempted to justify the situation by referring to the lack of foreign currency, arguing that without income from tourism, the country faces serious difficulties in acquiring milk from abroad.

According to the entity, each container has an approximate cost of 80 thousand dollars, which worsens the supply crisis.

However, this argument has been met with skepticism by internet users, as it highlights the critical dependence of the Cuban economy on a sector that has diminished in recent years, and it leaves families questioning how their children's nutrition will be ensured amid this chronic scarcity.

According to data from the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), Cuba currently produces less fresh milk than during the "special period" of the 1990s.

This crisis became evident when a shocking video posted on social media showed several elderly people picking up powdered milk from a street in Santiago de Cuba.

Crouched down, they collected the spilled powdered milk from the ground with their hands and placed it in plastic bags, according to a brief video posted in a Facebook reel by reporter Yosmany Mayeta.

Recently, a health situation also highlighted the crisis affecting the dairy industry when an outbreak of food poisoning raised great concern in the municipality of Corralillo, Villa Clara, after 16 people, including several minors, showed symptoms of dehydration, diarrhea, and vomiting after consuming domestically produced condensed milk.

The product in question was distributed by the local Agricultural Company and came from the Dairy Company of Sagua, as explained last Thursday on social media by Dr. Juan José Pulido López, General Director of Health for Villa Clara.

Last Saturday, the affected “are at their homes in good health,” an official source from the Ministry of Health in that province stated.

"It has been more than 72 hours since new cases have appeared. It is reiterated that we did not have serious patients or deaths," stated Dr. Juan José Pulido López, General Director of Health of Villa Clara, on Facebook.