First the parade, and then the fairs with “priceless” food for the workers

Havana Cuba. – At dawn this Wednesday the island hosted the parade for International Workers’ Day. In the capital, the regime’s unions guaranteed the attendance of thousands of workers to the central event that was organized in the Anti-Imperialist Tribune and was chaired by the dictators Raúl Castro and Miguel Díaz-Canel.

The authorities had summoned some 200,000 workers from the municipalities surrounding the Tribune, who had to travel by their own means to solve the transportation deficit generated by the fuel crisis that is hitting the country. However, some areas of Ayestarán and several adjacent streets were occupied by lines of buses and trucks belonging to companies that transported their employees to the political event.

Contradictorily, public transportation circulated more frequently through a city that was half empty until after 8:00 in the morning, when groups of people began to leave the Grandstand to concentrate on Carlos III Street, from Infanta to Belascoaín, where organized a fair with sales of alcoholic beverages, food and other products.

“This should be a party for workers and, you see, to have a couple of beers with a colleague you have to spend a million,” he told CubaNet Silvio Benavides Duarte, FAR civilian worker. “People look like crazy ants, walking from one place to another looking for what to buy, because everything is through the roof,” he added.

After getting up early, walking a long distance and standing for several hours while waiting for the event to begin, the workers had to face the inevitable lines to buy a fried chicken thigh with Moro or fried rice and food for a cost of 750 pesos. A pot of ice cream (400 ml) for the children was 500 pesos, and an ice cream popsicle was 50 pesos.

Prepared breads were the cheapest foods. Among them, a variety filled with a product called “hamberguillo”, which was sold for 80 pesos. “That is made from a kind of minced meat of dubious origin, fried well to kill the strange flavor,” one of the saleswomen discouraged her potential clients through clenched teeth.

Without lines, you could only buy alcoholic beverages. Imported beers at a minimum price of 180 pesos, while national brands Cristal and Bucanero at 250 pesos each. Rums, wines and liquors, all coming from MSMEs, showed a value of 1,200 pesos and up.

“It is so that today they would sell some things with differentiated prices, very few people can buy like that, everything is very expensive. “Everyone knows that state workers are starving,” said Duniel Castellanos López, an accountant at the Diez de Octubre Commerce Company.

Niurka Estrada Candelaria questioned that a snack consisting of bread with roast pork and a soft drink cost 500 pesos. “No one is responsible for reviewing these prices, which today are unaffordable for many Cubans. Unfortunately, the majority of us who look because we cannot buy, are the people who support the State with our work,” said the woman.

The sale of some meat was cheaper. A pound of tilapia minuta could be purchased for 350 pesos, mixed mince for 380 pesos, and beef and pork entrails for 380 pesos. However, many customers did not dare to buy any of these products because they were stored in boxes on the asphalt, exposed to swarms of flies.

“The quality is not good, these things have been hanging around outside of freezing for days. Buying organ meats and tilapia is a risk; Then you’re going to cook them and they even have a stink. The hash is the best, it comes in sealed tablets and looks pretty fresh. It is not easy,” said Alberto Ramírez Carvajal.

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