I wouldn’t have believed this if I hadn’t seen the quotes from Cuban sources you are about to read below. Even now I’m struggling with it.
Cuba – which was a major exporter of sugar (I’m pretty sure it was the country’s single biggest resource) is now importing it.
Production has fallen, impacting the domestic market and exports. A pound of sugar costs 600 pesos.
The Cuban government acknowledged that it is “shameful” for the island, traditionally one of the leading sugar producers in Latin America, to be forced to import this product.
Despite efforts to revive the sugar industry, the sector continues to face serious challenges, including failures in the last harvest.
During the session of the National Assembly of People’s Power, Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz recalled when Raúl Castro remarked that “it would be an embarrassment to have to import sugar.” He then stated, “and well, we are experiencing that embarrassment because we are importing sugar.”
He emphasized that the crisis in the sector is such that the country has also stopped exporting sugar, which was a key component of the economy.
Over the years, the crisis in the industry has been severe. During the last harvest season, the failures were evident, resulting in a drop in production that has impacted both the domestic market and exports, a sector that was previously one of the main sources of income for the country. As a consequence, Cuba has ceased exporting sugar and is facing challenges in supplying this essential product in the local market.
The government has emphasized the need for an “internal resizing” of the sugar sector, a process that includes modernizing machinery, enhancing worker care, and making adjustments to the production structure. However, the measures implemented so far have not been sufficient to reverse the crisis.
In this context, the shortage of sugar has driven prices up in the domestic market. Currently, a pound of sugar in Cuba is sold for 600 pesos, which is a high price in a country where salaries do not suffice to meet basic needs.
As (I assume) you join me by shaking your head in astonishment that communist Cuba has managed to turn its major export into an import, get ready to be even more astonished.
Be advised that, at the current exchange rage (100 pesos equals $4.18), if a Cuban wants to buy a pound of sugar, it will cost 600 pesos; that is over $25 U.S. dollars.
By comparison, my local ShopRite charges $3.19 for 4 pounds of name-brand (Domino) sugar; about 80 cents a pound.
And there’s even more: average income in Cuba, from the timecamp.com website (among others) is as follows:
The average salary in Cuba is a figure that can be difficult to ascertain precisely due to the economic system and the lack of comprehensive public data on private sector incomes. However, it is widely reported that the average monthly salary for state workers — which still constitutes a large portion of the Cuban workforce — hovers around the mark of 750 to 1,000 Cuban Pesos (CUP), equivalent to approximately 30 to 40 USD as per the exchange rates before currency reforms enacted in January 2021. The introduction of the Cuban Peso (CUP) as the sole legal currency, discontinuing the convertible peso (CUC), has led to some adjustments and changes in wage structures.
Yes it is true that a number of things we pay for in the states are provided without charge to Cubans. But that hardly compensates for the difference. Simply stated, the average state worker, if he buys nothing at all other than sugar – no food, no clothes, no furniture, just sugar and nothing else – earns enough to get about a pound and a half of of it a month.
Not a sweet deal, is it?
I wonder if the Cuban people will ever rise up and rid themselves of the communist leaders who have ruined their island so completely…while, by the way, making at least the head guy fabulously wealthy.
How wealthy? When fidel castro died, his net worth was estimated, depending on which site you check, somewhere between $168 million and $900 million dollars. His brother raul has a net worth of about $100 million. And there is little doubt that other leaders have hugely profited as well.
I guess communism is great…if you happen to be running the show. If you’re not, however, try living on $30 – $40 a month.
Cuba libre!!!!! The sooner the better.
