A Cuban residing in the United States shared on social media the unusual yet heartbreaking incident her family experienced in Cuba, when they had a hot pressure cooker stolen while cooking beans on a charcoal stove, amid the deep crisis the island is enduring.
The video of this testimony was shared by the Instagram profile La Familia Cubana Clips and has accumulated thousands of views and numerous comments.
According to the woman, her family—who lives in a rural area of eastern Cuba—had lit a charcoal stove in their backyard, as they do not have electricity or gas for cooking. This situation has become common in most Cuban households due to prolonged power outages and a shortage of fuel.
While the beans were softening, the cook went into her house "just for a moment" to prepare the sofrito. When she returned to the patio, the charcoal was still burning, but the pot was gone.
“She started searching for the pot frantically and couldn’t find it, but she heard the whistle of the steam sounding in the distance. When she looked up, she saw someone running with the pot in their hands,” the woman recounted.
The fact, in addition to being dangerous —due to the risk of the pot exploding during the escape— reflects the level of hunger, desperation, and misery that people are currently experiencing in Cuba.
Stealing a hot pot filled with boiling beans is a symbol of a society at its breaking point, where food scarcity, constant blackouts, and the lack of domestic gas drive the population into unimaginable situations.
"It’s sad, but there is no longer respect or compassion. People steal anything, even a hot pressure cooker with beans," lamented the Cuban from the United States.
These kinds of stories are repeated every day in a country where the food and energy crisis hits millions of families hard, who find ways to cook with firewood or charcoal and to survive amidst the collapse of the socialist economic system.
In the comments on the post, one person said: "It happened to me too. My pot was stolen recently; I had made yellow rice." A user replied: "It's no longer robbery with violence. This is robbery under pressure."
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