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The delivery of milk intended for children in the province of Matanzas has faced interruptions for weeks due to a lack of fuel, acknowledged recently the commercial director of the Dairy Company in the area, Reynaldo Ramírez Martínez.
In statements to the official newspaper Girón, the official explained that the entity has been facing a "contingency" for about 15 days, during which they stopped receiving the necessary fuel for the storage and distribution of the product.
According to their data, the company regularly used about 900 liters per day, but during the crisis, it was only allocated 216 liters to ensure the supply of milk for the city of Matanzas.
The situation particularly affected the Base Business Unit of Colón, responsible for distributing milk to several municipalities in the province, including Cárdenas, Jovellanos, Perico, Martí, Los Arabos, Jagüey Grande, Calimete, and Ciénaga de Zapata.
Due to the lack of fuel, the system opted to "cross" the municipalities, meaning they would receive the product directly from agriculture instead of going through the usual processing and distribution channels.
According to the executive himself, the main current obstacle is not the production itself, but collecting the milk from the dairies and transporting it to the distribution points.
Municipalities such as Cárdenas, Ciénaga de Zapata, and the provincial capital have been the most affected, as in some cases distribution was only possible once or twice due to the limited amount of collected milk.
In Cárdenas, for example, about 4,800 liters are needed daily, but during the crisis period, there were only about 800 liters available from local producers.
In Matanzas, one of the most affected routes was Playa-Peñas Altas, which had not received milk since February 22.
Ramírez Martínez indicated that a new supply of fuel was recently received, although it was smaller than the previous one: it decreased from 216 liters to 197.
With that amount, some distribution routes have been resumed, while others continue to be subject to rotations depending on the milk received by the industry.
In response to questions from the public about the possibility of using electric transportation for collection, the official ruled out that option, stating that the distances between many dairy farms and processing centers make this solution unfeasible.
The official explanations, however, have generated numerous criticisms among users themselves who commented on the publication from the state media.
Several parents pointed out that in municipalities like Colón, children have gone over two months without receiving milk, while others questioned attributing the problem solely to fuel.
Some comments also reported that producers have gone months without receiving payments for the milk delivered, which discourages collection.
Others contrasted the scarcity in the warehouses with the presence of powdered milk in foreign exchange stores, where it sells for more than six dollars a bag.
The episode occurs amid a structural crisis in livestock farming in Cuba. Official data from the Ministry of Agriculture indicates that the country has lost over 900,000 head of cattle since 2019, while the livestock count has decreased to about three million animals by the end of 2024.
In that context, the dairy industry has acknowledged that it can no longer guarantee milk for the entire population.
Since late 2023, authorities have acknowledged that the goal is to secure only a portion of the product for groups deemed vulnerable, including children.
The shortage has also forced farmers in other provinces, such as Camagüey, to resort to carts and bicycles to transport milk to collection centers due to the lack of fuel, an image that reflects the growing logistical difficulties of the system.
Almost two decades after Raúl Castro promised to expand access to milk beyond the age of seven, the situation remains the same: families relying on an intermittent distribution system and children who, in many areas of the country, go weeks without receiving a basic food item.
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