Cuba is broke, so....

[the_future_modernes]

Cuba Ends Food Guarantees, Steps Back from Socialist Ideal

MERIDA, Mexico – Cuba, in an abrupt about face, is set to abandon the food rationing program that has been the cornerstone of its Socialist revolution since 1962, when the United States imposed an economic embargo against the island nation.

In a rare signed editorial, Lazaro Barreda, the editor of Granma, the Communist Party’s official newspaper, announced the end of the ration booklet, or Libreta, that has guaranteed an egalitarian distribution of food to the Cuban people.

“The ration booklet was a necessity at one time, but it has become an impediment to the collective decisions the nation must take,” Lazaro Barreda wrote, preparing the Cuban people for Raul Castro’s most radical departure from the Socialist ideals championed by his brother, Fidel.

The ration booklets constituted the fundamental social contract between the Communist government and the people: No matter what happened, the state would provide food for everyone.

As Cuba encountered economic setbacks, the gravest of which occurred in the 1990s when, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba entered into a prolonged recession – a “lost” decade – the Cuban population became cynical of the program.

Throughout Latin America, where poverty and hunger remain challenges for governments of all ideological persuasions, Cuba’s government has been viewed as admirable for providing a minimum number of calories to each of its citizens.
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