[Marxism] Cuba debates maintaining or ending the ration book

[Walter Lippmann <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

All sorts of issues are up for discussion in Cuban today, 
including such institutions at the ration book system of
guaranteeing a floor under the living standards of every
single person on the island. They've spoken about getting
rid of the ration book for years. Fidel Castro also has
spoken up about this. It's not something which Cuba could
get rid of overnight, but it remains a problem which must
be dealt with somehow. These problems aren't easily solved.)
================================================================

LA JORNADA
May 19, 2008
Cuba debates maintaining or ending the ration book 

http://www.walterlippmann.com/docs1954.html 
A CubaNews translation by Sue Greene. 
Edited by Walter Lippmann.

Criticized as an exponent more of the deficiencies of socialism or
considered a right which should not be given up, the ration book in
Cuba, in effect for 46 years, could fall under the weight of the
changes that the national economy requires.

According to economists consulted by IPS, the government "seems to
have consensus" on the need to eliminate that system of egalitarian
distribution which, if at some point played its role, has become an
"anachronism" that has become an element of inequity today.

However, "it is not something that can be done abruptly and,
moreover, it must be accompanied by a series of measures to avoid a
traumatic impact on certain sectors of the population," said
economist and university professor Armando Nova in an interview with
IPS.

"It is necessary to work to eliminate that form of distribution which
gives 11.2 million people (the population of Cuba) the same, even
though there are those who do not need it. It may be better to
subsidize individuals and families in lieu of products, but in a very
well thought-out and systematic manner," added the expert.

The discussion on the topic increased after the Cuban president, Raul
Castro spoke of the current irrational and unsustainable conditions
of the country's economy resulting in "subsidized millionaires" which
assumes, among other things, the products distributed through the
ration book.

Official sources calculate the average annual spending on products
for that basic market at one billion dollars, which are sold at
subsidized prices. But this year, total imports of food is estimated
to reach one billion, 900 million dollars, due to the increase in
international food prices.

"The ration book falls short for the month, but at least I am sure of
some cheap things, rice, some beans, sugar, some protein and even so,
my pension disappears in a breath. If removed, already you can
imagine", said Digna Perez, a 59 year-old retired professor.

Besides the things mentioned by the woman, each person receives a
monthly minimum amount of oil, 10 eggs, toothpaste and soap, among
other products. Until the late 80's, the "standard" rations also
included manufactured goods.

A model document from the United Nations Aid for Development in Cuba
considers that access to that nutritional quota is a guaranteed right
to every citizen. It highlights that there are special diets for
vulnerable groups such as children, pregnant women, nursing mothers
with high additional requirements and patients with different
diseases.

According to Nova, various studies indicate that, at present, the
foods which Cuban families receive through the ration book assure
approximately 36 percent of daily calories per person and cover about
12 days a month, while proteins are covered for no more than 10 days
and fats, for nine days.

"Currently, the book is neither the shadow of what it was in the 60's
nor does it constitute a determinant source of total food
consumption, but neither is it to be looked down on," stated a
researcher from the University of Havana's Center for the Study of
the Cuban Economy (CEEC).

This distribution system was created by Law 1.015 in March 12, 1962
to circumvent the shortage created, among other factors, by the
position of the United States, then the country's main supplier. Over
discontent with the course of the Cuban Revolution, the United States
cut off all relations of with this country.

Also furnished as reasons, the growth of the population's purchasing
power at a faster pace than the production of consumer goods and the
state's capacity to import them. By means of the ration book it could
guarantee minimum quotas for everybody at subsidized prices, at times
lower than the cost of production.

"It created a complex situation, which could be internally explosive,
and the ration book fulfilled its goal of ensuring every family what
is necessary to live. By the 80's, thanks to this form of standard
distribution and the existence of an ample free trade market at
affordable prices, it could be said that Cuba had achieved a unique
level of equity in Latin America", indicated Nova.

But at the end of that decade and the early 90's, the dissolution of
the Soviet Union and the disappearance of the European socialist
camp, then the main political and economic partners of this Caribbean
island, again deprived her of fundamental markets. Her economy fell
into a dive, with a dramatic impact on the living standards of her
inhabitants.

By 1993, consumption fell 31 percent compared to 1989. Also, the
gross domestic product (GDP) fell 35 percent. The application of a
package of economic adjustment measures allowed the situation to
revert from that year until 2000 when the total consumption had
already grown 37 percent, according to expert sources.

To supplement their needs, currently consumers must go to
"agricultural free trade markets" (MLA) which, at very high prices,
offer in local currency (pesos) fruit, vegetables, grains and
cereals, pork and other good quality foodstuffs.

Other equally essential expenditures, from footwear, articles of
personal cleanliness and for the home, even electric appliances or
furniture, are sold in the so-called Currency Tax Collecting Stores
(TRD), which also stock food absent much of the time from the
standard ration card.

In the TRD, items are bought in convertible pesos (cuc), the only
circulating currency permitted there. In the state exchange houses
(Cadecas) one CUC is bought for 25 Cuban pesos or 1.25 U.S. dollars.
In the business sector, however, the official rate is one CUC for one
Cuban peso.

The domestic market segmentation, always under state control,
includes, among other things, trade in agricultural products at
prices "topados", that is, at prices previously agreed upon by the
parties involved, agricultural fairs, sales in orchards and
organoponicos and sales in stalls or neighborhood kiosks.

All those variants are accustomed to lacking quality, selection and
stability in what is offered, besides which, the prices are equal to
but never lower, has very little meaning to those of the MLA and TRD,
which serve as a reference including in underground market
transactions .

Nova believes that "it would be necessary to work for the unification
of all these markets and go looking for an approach that allows
lowering prices", as part of a recipe that should include the
elimination of "ties or knots that hinder the development of
productive forces".

In his opinion, that requires "changes in the relations of
production" which facilitate the increase in yields, particularly in
the agricultural sector, and progress "towards the creation of an
exchange rate at the business level which allows closing the
productive cycle ".

Experts have indicated that among the disincentive factors weighing
on food producers, are the exchange rate of one-for-one in the
business sector and the lack of an exchange market in which they
could buy currency in order to import goods and equipment enabling
them to improve their production.

ORIGINAL:
http://www.jornada.unam.mx/ultimas/2008/05/19/cuba-se-debate-entre-mantener-o-no-la-libreta-de-abastecimiento/


=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un ParaÃso bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================

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