The official newspaper Venceremos published a report on Friday regarding the poor quality of bread distributed in Guantánamo, featuring a photograph of loaves that, according to the media outlet, do not even meet the low weight standards approved and are sold for 75 cents.
The images were taken on August 17 at the former bakery La Nueva, located at the corner of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and Aguilera, in the Popular Council Center of the city of Guantánamo.
The article noted that the pieces weigh just 30 and 50 grams, describing them as "anemic due to their color" and "corroded." It also questioned the product's composition, stating that it lacks ingredients such as salt, sugar, and fat.
The criticism directly targets those responsible for overseeing the production and marketing of the food. The author of the article questioned what the leaders and inspectors of the Food, Flour, and Comprehensive Supervision and Control Departments are doing in the face of a situation that directly affects consumers, as acknowledged by the official newspaper itself.
The situation is worsening in the informal market, where street vendors are selling "pan de bola" for 40 pesos each. The article described this price difference as a blow to family finances and condemned the enrichment at the expense of people’s needs and inflationary opportunism.
The report is particularly significant because it comes from a state-run media outlet and presents photographs highlighting a deficiency in a basic product that directly affects the families in Guantánamo.
"Everyone is suffering from shortages of all kinds: fuels, electricity, medicines, food... but no one has the right to add to the burdens and so significantly harm the consumer," claimed Venceremos.
At the beginning of August, content creator Yordania Orduñez shared a video showing the bread from her store, small and with moldy dough, after five days without supply due to blackouts.
"Look at that mass on the inside. We can't take it anymore, sir, it's disrespectful; it looks like it has mold," he stated.
Days later, residents of the Cuabitas neighborhood in Santiago de Cuba reported misshapen bread with dark spots distributed through the ration book.
A 68-year-old woman summed up the collective sentiment: "There used to be shortages sometimes, but at least bread was bread. Today, it's embarrassing to collect the ration."
The Habanero Dimitri Peñate also posted a video comparing the bodega bread to something "from Mars." "I've never seen bread like this. The disrespect, I don't know how they have the morals and shame to sell this," he lamented.
In Cuba, approximately 20,000 tons of flour are needed monthly to produce the bread for regulated sale, but by June, only one of the six contracted wheat shipments for the entire year had arrived, acknowledged the Minister of Food Industry, Alberto López Díaz, during the official television program Mesa Redonda.
The only operational mill in Cienfuegos produces about 250 tons daily, compared to the 700 tons needed, while the plant in Guantánamo remains out of service.
The shortage of flour has forced the mixing of wheat with cassava pulp, sweet potato, or corn, affecting the texture, taste, and preservation. In Villa Clara, the regulated bread has been restricted since February only to those under 13 years old and over 65.
Since July 2, and without prior notice, the Cuban Bread Company increased the price of the 400-gram loaf of bread in Havana from 240 to 500 Cuban pesos, a rise of 108%, while the weight of subsidized bread has been decreasing for two years, dropping from 80 grams in 2024 to 60, and in some areas even to 40 grams.
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