“HAVANA (AP) — The Cuban government announced Friday that it is launching widespread rationing of chicken, eggs, rice, beans, soap and other basic products in the face of a grave economic crisis.

Commerce Minister Betsy Díaz Velázquez told the state-run Cuban News Agency that various forms of rationing would be employed in order to deal with shortages of staple foods. She blamed the hardening of the U.S. trade embargo by the Trump administration. Economists give equal or greater blame to a plunge in aid from Venezuela, where the collapse of the state-run oil company has led to a nearly two-thirds cut in shipments of subsidized fuel that Cuba used for power and to earn hard currency on the open market.

“We’re calling for calm,” Díaz said, adding that Cubans should feel reassured that at least cooking oil would be in ample supply. “It’s not a product that will be absent from the market in any way.” …”

https://apnews.com/42b62f24be9b4e0d9f764f1a3fa9647a

Another socialist paradise.

Makes sense that they'd be in economic crisis, what with the poor soil poor weather, lack of tourist attractions like beaches, inability to trade due to lack of port access. You know, a real bad hand on the raw materials required for economic success.

What?... They have all that? Hmmm... Do they have personal economic freedom without the government interfering ?

This my be a dumb Question but is the United States the only country that has trade and travel restrictions with Cuba.
What about the rest of the world.
I remember years ago talking to people that were from other parts of the world vacationing in Cuba.
Their economic problems always seam to be the United States fault because we cant travel there or trade with them.

quote:

We’re calling for calm,” Díaz said, adding that Cubans should feel reassured that at least cooking oil would be in ample supply. “It’s not a product that will be absent from the market in any way.” …”

Plenty of cooking oil because they have nothing to cook!

Well at least they have them some fantastic free health care.

/sarcasm

I just love how the socialist haven of Venezuela has the full support and assistance from the king of failed socialist countries.

The liberal, progressive, socialist democrats should take note of this, as well as the ignoramus idiots that push this crap. But they will say that it just wasn't done right and the American socialist democrat can do it better.....

A good friend I made when I lived in the keys was born and raised in Cuba, he told me stories of his mother leaving on a Saturday morning returning late in the evening after going into the country side to get a few eggs, some vegetables and a small amount of meat that had to last a family of 6 for a week.

This is nothing new in cuba.

quote:

Originally posted by 71 TRUCK:
This my be a dumb Question but is the United States the only country that has trade and travel restrictions with Cuba.
What about the rest of the world.
I remember years ago talking to people that were from other parts of the world vacationing in Cuba.
Their economic problems always seam to be the United States fault because we cant travel there or trade with them.

As far as I know, we were the only major country to limit travel to Cuba. For example, anadian citizens have always been able to travel there.

For those "Americans" who call for socialism, they should get a one way ticket to Cuba or Venezuela. In fact, I would be comfortable using my tax dollars to finance those one way tickets because it would cost less than letting them leach off the American tax payer tit.

quote:

Originally posted by 71 TRUCK:
This my be a dumb Question but is the United States the only country that has trade and travel restrictions with Cuba.
What about the rest of the world.
I remember years ago talking to people that were from other parts of the world vacationing in Cuba.
Their economic problems always seam to be the United States fault because we cant travel there or trade with them.

My grandmother went to Cuba a few years ago, AFAIK the restrictions we lifted under Obama. I saw pictures it's a beautiful place filled with awesome antique cars. She told me how happy the taxi driver was that he made as much as a neurosurgeon for just driving tourists around. My guess is Grandma didn't have a chance to talk to a neurosurgeon and get his opinion on the matter.

I'd love to visit there, it's a gorgeous place with perfect weather and great food.

Obviously our trade and a large travel industry would help their economy, that is the point of the restrictions. It may be possible with our tourism, trade, and support from other comunist countries for them to be successful due to small size of the island. Cuban population is only 20% larger than NYC. Heck there might be more Cubans in New York and Florida than on the island itself.

Until the people of Cuba decide to overthrow their dictatorship nothing will change. Socialism doesn’t work.

I’m no expert but I’ve been to Cuba a couple of times recently. The Cuban people are awesome and deserve better but it’s up to them.

The US embargo continues to be a tool that that Cuban dictators used to deflect blame the their systems failure and to stay in power.

This happened when the USSR fell and it’s happening again now with Venezuela.

Cuba is running out of sugar daddy’s.

Cuba is a ticking time bomb internally. They claim to be a socialist paradise...all for one and one for all, however this is no longer the case.

A few years ago out of desperation (and the inability to feed everyone) Raul eased the prohibition of some private enterprise focused primarily on those that interact with tourists...small restaurants, taxis, tour guides, etc. it was done because the government couldn’t afford to support everyone. They also wanted a chunk of the hard currency from these endeavors.

This was seen as progress but it has yielded two economy’s....the haves and the have nots. The entrepreneurs are relatively wealthy now and the space between the haves and have nots is growing.

Cuban adults receive about $100 a month to work. I paid my tour guide $80 a day.

Eventually this will blow up and resolve itself.

I'd bet there's no rationing going on by the Commerce Minister and other ranking officials in this socialist paradise.

Capitalist yankee gringo's have ruined this Marxist paradise!

I will hopefully be able to give a first person account in a couple of months. I’ll be sure to tell Raul that SigForum says hi.

Just out of curiosity, does Cuba have gun restrictions in place like Venezuela? An obvious pattern that even a liberal should be able to see.

quote:

Originally posted by greco:
Just out of curiosity, does Cuba have gun restrictions in place like Venezuela? An obvious pattern that even a liberal should be able to see.

Quite possibly the easiest answer known to mankind, it goes without saying.

Unless you are military/intelligence in Cuba, private legal gun ownership is almost unheard of.

Cuba faults Trump’s trade policy for causing its economic crisis

By Eileen AJ Connelly May 11, 2019 | 7:54am

People wait in line to buy chicken at a government-run grocery store in Havana, Cuba.
People wait in line to buy chicken at a government-run grocery store in Havana, Cuba. AP

This isn't just Venezuela's moment — it's critical for everyone
Cuba is blaming President Trump for its latest economic crisis, but experts say Venezuela is just as great a cause, if not more.

The Communist government in Havana released a long list of products it is now rationing, blaming the tightening of the US trade embargo for shortages of staples like chicken, eggs, rice, beans and soap, the Associated Press reported.

Rationing also began for cooking oil, though the government said there will be enough to go around.

Commerce Minister Betsy Díaz Velázquez told the state-run Cuban News Agency that the hardening of the US trade embargo by the Trump administration–a reversal of former President Obama’s “thawing” policy–was behind the shortages. But economists said a two-thirds drop in aid from Venezuela, which is going through its own economic and political crisis, is as much or more to blame.

Cuba imports about 65 percent of its food.https://nypost.com/2019/05/11/cuba-faults-trumps-trade-policy-for-causing-its-economic-crisis/