A Chaotic Landscape with Little Oversight and a Disadvantaged Public

The agricultural markets in Villa Clara epitomize the economic chaos that plagues everyday life for Cubans, characterized by inconsistent pricing for identical products, a lack of oversight, an absence of visible authorities, and consumers left unprotected in a system benefiting only the shrewdest. According to testimony from state journalist Jesús Álvarez López, who visited several markets on May 21, agricultural products exhibited varied and irrational prices without any apparent logic.

During his visit between 9:00 and 10:00 a.m., Álvarez observed tomatoes priced at 120 pesos per pound in two leased markets, 100 pesos in a state-run market, and astonishingly, 50 pesos per pound offered by a young street vendor at the corner of Estrada Palma and Paseo de la Paz. “His tomatoes cost 50, but he sells sweet potatoes at 100 pesos per pound, defying the approved price cap,” Álvarez reported on the villaclareña CMHW radio station.

Álvarez noted, “It’s normal for tomato prices to rise in May, but there has been little rain and still, inexplicable price variations persist.” He questioned, “Who can explain such grotesque price discrepancies for tomatoes of similar quality?” Meanwhile, other staples like onions remain out of reach, and root vegetables are scarce. When yuca is available, it is often inedible: “I bought it, but it wouldn’t soften, despite the seller’s assurances,” Álvarez commented. He also witnessed an elderly man approach a vendor with just 30 pesos, requesting “a pound of yuca,” deducing it was likely meant for his lunch.

The reporter also found that malanga xanthosoma, previously left to rot on farmers’ piles, is now sold at an exorbitant 50 pesos per pound in a state market. Prior to the “New Agricultural Product Commercialization Policy,” the state-run Acopio company was the regulatory body, “and although there were price violations, at least consumers had someone to complain to if they bought a deteriorated product sold as first-rate,” Álvarez lamented, adding, “I confess I don’t know whom we can complain to now.”

Unregulated Markets and Consumer Struggles

The disorder, as highlighted in the commentary, only benefits “those fishing in troubled waters,” while even the state suffers as tax records are distorted, and “nobody knows what is actually sold.” Álvarez criticized, “Those defending this price anarchy have disrupted even potato sales. Silence on these highly sensitive issues undermines authority and erodes social trust.”

Recently, Álvarez reported the collapse of the 2024-2025 potato harvest in Villa Clara, with yields far below expectations, disorganization, informal sales of inputs, and inflated prices by state entities. The Cuban agricultural sector has faced numerous challenges in recent years, such as aging machinery, lack of fertilizers and inputs, and restrictions on small private producers. This is compounded by rampant inflation and logistical difficulties stemming from the country’s economic crisis.

Economic Hardships and Policy Failures

Recent official data show significant declines in the production of essential foods like pork, rice, root vegetables, eggs, cow’s milk, beans, and vegetables, highlighting a severe food crisis in Cuba. In February, Vice President Salvador Valdés Mesa admitted that food prices are so high that living on a salary of 6,000 pesos is impossible.

The minimum wage in Cuba is 2,100 pesos, with 39% of retirees receiving the minimum pension of 1,528 pesos per month. Independent economist Omar Everleny Pérez Villanueva estimates that food costs in Cuba have risen by 18% over the past year. In December 2024, covering the basic food basket for two people in Havana required about 24,351 Cuban pesos (CUP), equivalent to approximately 202 dollars.

Despite acknowledging the material conditions necessary to boost the agricultural sector, the Cuban government has yet to present a realistic, transparent, and sustainable plan that goes beyond using the “blockade” as an omnipresent excuse. In July 2022, the Cuban regime enacted the Law of Food Sovereignty and Nutritional Education to ensure safe and nutritious food for the entire population.

However, by the end of 2024, the Communist Party of Cuba admitted its failure in food production, revealing underlying issues such as decades of state control, lack of economic incentives for producers, and a bureaucratic system stifling any attempt at innovation or efficiency in Cuban agriculture. Recently, the regime has once again placed the responsibility of feeding the population back on the people, acknowledging that, in the face of the country’s deep crisis, “the most secure resources we will have in each territory are what we can produce through our own efforts.”