The latest statement from an official on Cuban state television, who called on the population to reduce or even eliminate the consumption of rice, potatoes, and pasta, sparked a storm of outrage on social media.
The humorist Ulises Toirac also responded, infusing irony and fury into a sentiment that today affects millions of Cubans: the frustration with a government that fails to produce food and, on top of that, blames the people for being hungry.
From his Facebook account, Toirac wryly recalled the times when humor had to be "very finely spun" to survive censorship, and contrasted that period with the ease with which a bureaucrat now allows himself to dictate what the people should eat, in a "food situation that makes one want to cry."
The comedian didn’t hide his astonishment: "And it turns out that nowadays anyone can come along and in the midst of a food situation that makes you want to cry, they have the nerve to say that we shouldn’t eat so much rice, potatoes, or spaghetti..." he wrote.
Far from accepting the thesis that those foods "do not belong" to Cuba, Toirac dismantled the argument using national history and culture.
He recalled the mestizo and cosmopolitan nature of the country, shaped by waves of Africans, Europeans, Chinese, Arabs, and Latin Americans, who left their mark not only on music and religion but also on the dining table.
"My grandparents… they ate rice, spaghetti, and potatoes! What customs is he talking about?" she questioned, highlighting the disconnection between the official discourse and real life.
But the core of their complaint was even deeper: in present-day Cuba, the vast majority of the population can no longer choose what to eat.
"Normal people in this country no longer choose what they are going to eat. The privileged choose. People grab whatever they can," he emphasized, noting that discussing "eating habits" in a context of chronic shortages is not only absurd but also offensive.
For that reason, he described the television intervention as reprehensible and sarcastically and wearily demanded a modicum of respect: "Just a little respect, please. It's already known that they're drifting. Stop sending more signals, because people are outraged!"
Toirac's words add to an avalanche of reactions that questioned the attempt by the state apparatus to shift the responsibility of the food crisis onto the population.
On social media, activists, journalists, and ordinary citizens mocked the official narrative suggesting that the issue is not the unproductiveness of the countryside or the lack of investment, but rather that Cubans "eat poorly" or have "wrong habits."
Behind this controversy is the intervention of Dr. Roberto Caballero, a member of the National Executive Committee of Agricultural and Forestry Technicians, who stated on the television program "Cuadrando la Caja" that food sovereignty is hindered by the diet of Cubans.
He argued that potatoes do not adapt to the climate and that rice is an acquired habit that can be changed, even stating with a smile that "it is easier than ever to introduce that change" due to the scarcity, because "anything you put in front of people will sell."
The problem is that, as dozens of users pointed out, neither rice, nor potatoes, nor the supposed "native" alternatives—malanga, yuca, boniato, or yam—are consistently available in the markets.
Meanwhile, wages are evaporating in the face of inflation, the land remains overrun with marabou, pests are advancing uncontrollably, and farmers are colliding with a system that prevents them from freely selling what they produce.
In that context, the suggestion to "change the diet" sounds mocking to families who spend hours figuring out what to put on the table.
That’s why Ulises Toirac's reaction resonated so strongly: it was not just a joke or a personal outburst, but a reflection of the chasm between official rhetoric and the everyday reality of a country where, each day, eating has become an act of survival.
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