"Cuba cuts back on rationed products" by Paul Haven, Associated Press | November 7, 2009
HAVANA - Cuba has cut two staple foods from the monthly ration books that most islanders depend on, edging closer to a risky full elimination of the decades-old subsidies.
Potatoes and peas were dropped from the list of rationed foods this week, meaning Cubans can buy as much of the products as they want - as long as they are willing to pay as much as 20 times more than they used to.
Yeah, that is the kind of thing that causes riots in the streets!
The move comes amid efforts by Raul Castro’s government to scale back Cuba’s subsidy-rich, cash-poor economy. Nearly free lunches were eliminated from some state-cafeterias in September.
Time to END the EMBARGO!
Authorities say their goal is to encourage more productivity and free the state from a crushing economic burden. Critics - including some on the streets of Havana - argue that the moves break with what had been a sacred covenant of the revolution Fidel Castro led in 1959: that socialism would not make people rich, but would provide all Cubans with at least the basics.
And they have a GREAT MEDICAL SYSTEM, too!!
Even with the changes, the state pays for or heavily subsidizes nearly everything, from education to health care, housing to transportation.
Yes, the COMMUNIST CUBANS do a BETTER JOB of CARING FOR THEIR PEOPLE -- as poor as that place is.
But many Cubans see the ration book - “libreta’’ in Spanish - as a flawed but fundamental right, and shoppers on Friday bristled at the changes....
