Last Updated on April 24, 2020, 7:12 AM AST by Anthony Morris
The decades-old rationing system of Cuba which had once been slated for elimination is making a comeback in the country during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic as a measure of preventing Cubans from getting exposed to the novel virus by going out shopping.
Cuba had closed its borders for the travellers, shut down schools and ordered the use of face masks for containing the novel virus last month.
Doctors and medical students were also sent to monitor the population of the country.
However, long queues were seen outside the Cuban supermarkets because of the widespread shortages of essential goods and these long queues risk weakening Cuba’s response to the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Cuban authorities, to curb this risk, added more products to Cubans’ monthly ration book this month.
The monthly ration book is locally known as the libreta.
The Cuban authorities have started experimenting with the options of online commerce and delivery.
The objective behind taking these steps is to ensure that the shoppers do not travel out of their neighbourhoods and form long lines at stores as they would already know they are guaranteed their rations at their local corner shop.
Cuban authorities have shut down some of the biggest supermarkets in the country and suspended public transport.
Cuba has recorded 1,235 confirmed cases of COVID-19 coronavirus and 43 deaths due to the disease so far.
Omar Everleny, a Cuban economist, said that just as it seemed like liberta was dying out, it has managed to take a new breath of air.
Libreta was introduced in Cuba shortly after the late Fidel Castro’s 1959 leftist revolution, to ensure a survival level of heavily subsidized staples like rice, sugar, beans and coffee for everyone in the country in the face of the sanctions imposed by the United States.
When Raul Castro, Fidel’s younger brother took over as president of Cuba in 2008 and started experimentally liberalizing the Soviet-style economy, he called the liberta outdated. He started cutting the number of items that had been rationed.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
