Cuba prioritizes feeding the people in the face of the US blockade

Havana, Apr 6.- Cuba is making huge efforts to guarantee food for the population amid the great obstacles imposed by the blockade of the United States.

According to President Miguel Díaz-Canel, this hostile policy was strengthened to unprecedented levels in recent years, forcing the country to carry out a titanic task since its imposition in the first years of the Revolution. He added that amid the current complex scenario, the Cuban government remains committed to ensuring the distribution of the basic food basket to the population.

The tightening of the US blockade significantly impacts the energy issue and provokes the lack of financing, consequently affecting the food distribution chain, and hindering the search for the necessary resources to acquire food, he said.

During the weekly news program,” From the Presidency”, the Cuban head of state pointed out that the US blockade is complemented by media intoxication campaigns that seek to hide the real causes of the situation in the country, blame everything on the Government, and prompting unrest and internal division.

To counteract this, Díaz-Canel urged to systematize providing information to the population in a timely and detailed manner regarding food products distribution, redouble efforts to make this task more efficient and guarantee the regularity of deliveries until ensuring them, once again, on the first days of each month.

The Cuban president said that, in parallel with this effort, Cuba needs a transformation in the energy matrix in the transportation of products, especially at the municipal level, taking advantage of the advances that several Cuban industries are experiencing in the production of light electrical vehicles, and encouraging their indigenous production.

The Minister of Internal Trade, Betsy Díaz, and the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Oscar Pérez-Oliva, also participated in the program. Both authorities responded to concerns and complaints from the population, which were presented by Díaz-Canel.

They also confirmed that, after the arrival in the country of several purchases and donations, there are good prospects for the distribution of the regulated family basket for April and May, and the guarantee of the continuity of food marketing due to previous contracts.

The president also informed that Prime Minister Manuel Marrero will hold a video conference with the governors of the entire country to join forces at territorial, local, and national levels to achieve the optimization of the available means of transportation and expedite the distribution of the basic food basket. (Taken from Prensa Latina)