After The arrival of a ship loaded with powdered milk and other foods that are missing from Cuban shelves will be announcedthe authorities once again resorted to hiding behind the “blockade” argument to justify the shortage in the country, however, this did not prevent food imports from the United States from growing during December 2023.
As indicated by the US-Cuba Trade and Economic Council (CubaTrade), that month saw an increase of 14.8% compared to the amount of food and agricultural products imported in the previous year, going from 39,393,828 dollars (USD) in 2022 to 45,229,570 USD at the end of 2023 .
This increase has been somewhat constant, since in 2021, the Island only registered an increase of 28 million USD in food imports compared to 2020.
In that sense, CubaTrade It also indicated that, during 2023, there was a large increase in total imports from the US to the Island, which include frozen chicken and pork in different presentations, coffee, calcium phosphates and unsweetened milk/cream.
According to their numbers, these products were imported for a value of 342,607,027 USD, a figure that exceeds the 328,536,988 dollars that the Island spent in 2022.
The non-profit organization, which was created in 1994 to advise the business community that wants to invest in Cuba, notes that since the Treasury Department authorized the importation of food and other products to Cuba in 2001, some imported 7,246,333,393 dollars in products, something that contrasts with the exhausted discourse that uses the “blockade” as an excuse for everything bad that happens in the country.
Additionally, the organization details that, in terms of donations, an increase was also recorded, since in 2022 humanitarian donations with a value of 30,083,306 USD were introduced, while in 2023 products with a value of 36,563 were delivered. 551 dollars.
More specifically, the data reveal that the largest product imported by the Island is chicken, with Cuba spending 279,579,800 USD on different presentations such as leg, breast, and frozen thighs.
Knowing about this increase and the amounts that the regime spends on the purchase of chicken, one cannot help but wonder why many citizens struggle to obtain this food when receiving the basic basket, although it is very likely that the majority of this product ends up in the regime’s luxury hotels.
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