The Castro regime warned that the production of flour on the Island, and therefore bread, has been affected in recent days, so the distribution of standardized bread in the warehouse was going to decrease in several provinces.
According to the commercial director of the Cuban Milling Company, Zaily Pérez Hernández, they were dealing with many problems that affected flour production.
Among these difficulties were the pretexts most used by the Cuban government to justify food shortages in the country, delays in the arrival of imports and the financial restrictions of the United States.
The official maintains that this has directly affected the acquisition of wheat, a fundamental raw material for making flour. According to Pérez, all contracted wheat shipments have suffered significant delays, interrupting the continuity of flour production in the Greater Antilles.
Due to the current situation, several territories of the country, which were not specified by the official press, will experience a reduction in the daily production of bread, which will end up directly affecting the hungry population of the Island.
The president of the Food Industry Business Group (GEIA), Emerio González Lorenzo, also indicated that, of the five mills present in Cuba, only the one in Cienfuegos continues to operate, with a maximum capacity of 250 tons of flour per day.
The low production led to the formation of a Temporary Working Group made up of authorities from the Ministry of the Food Industry (Minal), GEIA, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment. The group’s goal is to obtain additional flour.
Although this may seem like a good thing, the official specified to the press that the bread crisis will not be resolved with a little extra flour, since national consumption of flour amounts to 20,000 tons per month, while importers only contribute about 2,500 tons. which represents less than 13%.
To try to calm the people, the authorities assured that they have already guaranteed the fuel necessary to transport the available flour to all the provinces.
Additionally, they point out that they have incorporated extenders into wheat flour in the form of corn, pumpkin and cassava. This process, although it increases production, results in bread of lower quality and worse flavor.
The regime assures that the situation will change at the end of March, this after the arrival of two ships loaded with flour and wheat, however, only time will tell if this is another of the empty promises of officials to avoid discontent among citizens. .
