March 8, 2012
Fernando Ravsberg
HAVANA TIMES, March 8 — Today, while walking by a number of farmers
market stalls full of fruits and vegetables, something made me think
back to the 1990s, when food distribution was monopolized by the
government through mechanisms that were as strict as they were inefficient.
Cooking has always been my hobby, but in those days it was a real
headache. When I was able to buy onions, there wasn't any garlic; and
when that item finally showed up, I couldn't find any chili peppers. I
could never make a dish with all the ingredients.
Despite being in the middle of the tropics, it was almost impossible to
find fruits such as oranges, pineapples, mangos or guava. Bananas never
completely disappeared, but after a couple of years of eating only these
fruits, I started feeling like an ape man.
Those of us who had cars used to go out to the countryside to buy fruits
and vegetables from farmers, but we would return to the city like drug
dealers – evading police to prevent the confiscation of boniatos (yams)
that we zealously hid in our trunks.
While the opening of agricultural markets was being discussed at that
stage, a nerve disease called neuritis was spreading among the
population. A statement by the deputy minister of health was decisive in
making it clear that the disease was caused by a lack of certain
vitamins and minerals.
Dr. Terry was dismissed, but a little later, farmers were allowed to
start selling their products directly to people at market prices.
Interestingly, the price of rice declined from 50 pesos a pound (on the
black market), to less than 10 pesos in the farmers markets.
Nevertheless, the state continued to resist the acceptance of
intermediaries. It began demanding small farmers themselves to transport
and market their own products – never explaining who would then actually
work the land.
Some authorities carried things to the extreme. When I went in Camaguey,
artisans told me that they were only allowed to sell their crafts on
certain days of the week, because supposedly the rest of the time they
had to be making those items.
To be fair though, I have to say that the non-acceptance of
intermediaries comes not only from the government. A farmer in Matanzas
Province said he was angered to see how transporters and retailers
earned more than those who work the land.
From the time that food leaves the hands of the farmer until it reaches
the consumer, prices of some products are increased by as much as 500
percent, even more if you count produce that's sold illegally within
farmers markets.
If that weren't enough, many of the scales are rigged, exaggerating the
weight of produce to further increase the price. And we're not talking
about insignificant half measures; recently they tried to sell me a
11-pound leg of pork while passing if off as weighing 20 pounds.
All criticisms of intermediaries by the government and the people have a
real basis, but they often lose sight of the fact that these people too
are workers who are as socially essential as those who produce.
It's absurd to think that farmers are going to stop working in order to
go to market to sell their wares, or that artisans will shut down their
woodshops to go to a crafts fair to offer their products to tourists.
Many don't want to, can't or prefer not to.
In any normal society, the work of intermediaries is required and this
is governed by rules. What are lacking in Cuba are not laws that
prohibit this, but regulations to facilitate the activity and prevent
abuses.
A fair tax policy would be an ideal mechanism to curb the excesses and
redistribute the country's wealth. In more socially advanced nations,
intermediaries know that the more they earn the more they will pay in taxes.
But they can be treated amicably, giving them the opportunity to buy new
cars, fuel-efficient engines, supplying them with spare parts, offering
them new scales and even bearings for push carts.
Establishing clear standards, providing operational facilities and
collecting taxes fairly could be more productive than inciting people
through the press that stigmatizes intermediaries as those who are
responsible for shortages and high prices.
—–
(*) An authorized translation by Havana Times (from the Spanish
original) published by BBC Mundo.
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