A Cuban woman reported in a video that during the school break week, the only supplies that arrived at her community store were a pound of sugar and three pounds of rice in terrible condition.
Esmeilda García Márquez stated in a video posted on Facebook: " three pounds of rotten rice, infested because that's how it arrived here, a little pound of sugar."
In the same video, the woman expressed her concern for essential workers: "A doctor who leaves the hospital exhausted, a nurse, a teacher... when they get to the bank, there's no money, no electricity, no connection."
The complaint comes just days after the Ministry of Domestic Trade announced the distribution of the basic basket for April in Santiago de Cuba with only two products: one pound of sugar per consumer and 500 grams of short pasta exclusively for children aged zero to 13 years.
The announcement, posted on the official account of the Grupo Empresarial de Comercio de Santiago, triggered a wave of outrage on social media. "What a shame, two products and in meager quantities. And they still call that a basic basket?" wrote a user.
Residents of Santiago de Cuba reported overdue payments from previous months: baby formula for infants up to one year old has not been delivered since February, the module of rice and oil for pregnant women and those over 65 years old, and even donated cans of sardines that never arrived.
The complaint about spoiled rice is not new. In December 2025, a woman from Bayamo reported rice from the basic basket covered in mold and greenish spots. In February 2025, another Cuban showcased on TikTok her rationed portion infested with weevils. In March 2026, a resident of Camagüey reported that the rice sold in the store smelled bad and was dirty, priced at 155 pesos per pound.
These problems are due to prolonged storage under inadequate conditions and to structural logistical failures of a collapsing distribution system. In July 2025, Havana received only three pounds; in February 2026, the province of Las Tunas had no rice available in the state system.
The situation worsens with the collapse of the sugar industry: Cuba recorded its lowest production in over 125 years during the 2025-2026 harvest, even lower than in 1899. Holguín produced less than 10% of its plan; Camagüey barely reached 4,000 tons; Guantánamo, less than 3,000.
The Cuban economy contracted by 5% in 2025 and is projected to face an additional decline of 7.2% in 2026, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit. 80% of Cubans believe that the current crisis is worse than the Special Period of the 1990s.
While the regime dismisses political changes and does not provide a viable solution strategy, Esmeilda García Márquez concluded her video with a phrase that encapsulates the forced silence experienced on the Island: "No one, no one says anything."
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