Saturday 11 May 2019

Cuba Forced into Rationing as US Sanctions and Venezuela Crisis Bite


THE GUARDIAN: Commerce minister announces limits on purchases of staples such as chicken, eggs, rice, beans and soap

The Cuban government has announced that it is launching widespread rationing of chicken, eggs, rice, beans, soap and other basic products in the face of a grave economic crisis.

Betsy Díaz Velázquez, the commerce minister, 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 US 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 subsidised fuel that Cuba used for power and to earn hard currency on the open market. » | Agencies | Saturday, May 11, 2019