HAVANA (Reuters) – Peas and potatoes have become the harbingers of change in Cuba as President Raul Castro chips away at some of the Cuban revolution’s most hallowed social programmes.
Without a word, the two vegetables were removed this month from the subsidized food ration Cubans have received since 1963 and prices shot up in what people fear was a glimpse of the future.
Many view it as the first step toward the end of the ration programme, known here as the “libreta,” and possibly other government subsidies that Castro has complained are too costly for the cash-strapped government and discourage productivity.
“There’s a lot silence from the country’s leaders about most of the things that are affecting we Cubans. The libreta is slowly disappearing without explanation,” said Marco, a retired lawyer who did not give his full name.
Cubans say the libreta only gives them enough food for about two weeks, but at least guarantees part of their monthly diet. In a country where the average monthly salary is equal to about $20, losing it would be a blow.
“People are not very happy about it. It’s not that what you get lasts for the whole month, but it’s a help because you can get those things at a price that’s not too high,” said Havana housewife Yuliet Cruz.
The libreta gives Cubans subsidized prices for set quantities of basic foods like rice, beans, sugar, salt, coffee, eggs and meat.
If they need more food than the libreta provides, they have to pay regular market prices that are much higher, although generally low by international standards, or find it on the black market.
The newly unleashed prices for peas and potatoes gave Cubans a jolt.
Potatoes more than doubled in price to 1 Cuban peso, equivalent to 4.5 US cents, for a pound, while the price of peas increased 20-fold to 3.5 pesos, or 16 US cents per pound.
Government insiders have said the libreta is unlikely to be eliminated for people such as retirees living on fixed incomes or those who for legitimate reasons are unable to work.
