The Cuban Government asks the UN for the first time to urgently send milk for children

Cuba has “urgently” requested help from the World Food Program (WFP), an organization dependent on the United Nations, to facilitate the shipment of milk to children under seven years of age. Although this is not the first time that the island is going through a food crisis, it has never before processed a request of this nature to the UN. The Executive has not commented publicly on the request, but the WFP delegation in the country has assured that it received “an official communication from the Government” and that the shipment of powdered milk has already begun, which is distributed in a rationed manner in the state warehouses.

The World Food Program, the largest humanitarian agency dedicated to combating hunger and that provides assistance to more than 90 million people a year, confirmed to the EFE agency that the authorities requested help “to continue the monthly delivery of one kilogram of milk intended for girls and boys under seven years of age throughout the country.” The organization highlights the “urgent need” and “the importance of this request” at a time of “deep economic crisis” for the country. He also assured that the shortage situation is “significantly impacting the food and nutritional security of the population.” “It is the first time that Cuba requests support by issuing an official communication at the highest level of WFP management,” the organization added.

The request was made at the end of last year, when the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment (Mincex) sent the letter to the WFP executive directorate in Rome. In addition, they clarified that Cuba “does not refer to any explicit time frame” in its request and that the Executive seeks to “mobilize additional resources” from “traditional and non-traditional donors” in the face of a panorama that does not show improvement in the country’s economy. The Program has already sent “144 metric tons of skimmed milk powder” to the island, which will benefit almost 48,000 girls and boys between seven months and three years old in Pinar del Río and Havana.

The lack of milk in Cuba, a recurring problem

It is not the first time that in Cuba there are delays or total absence of milk in the diet that the Government of the Island distributes through the so-called supply books, and that only children under seven years of age and people with special diets receive. due to chronic diseases. Since 2021, the authorities have reported that they do not have a sufficient supply of the product, due to import delays, the limited availability of financing and ships that can transport milk shipments. By the beginning of 2022, officials from the Agri-Food Industry recognized that they were not being able to deliver diet milk to children and pregnant women. More than one complaint from elderly people or mothers desperate for lack of milk has gone viral on social networks. On several occasions, the delivery of milk in Cuba has had to be replaced by vitaminized instant syrup or soft drink.

At the end of last year, the Ministers of Economy and Energy and Mines appeared on state television to report on how little money the country has to buy food abroad and to guarantee the supply of energy. Former Economy Minister Alejandro Gil then said that the economy was “in a complex situation” and admitted the delays or lack of milk, coffee or pork for the population.

In February of this year, the Minister of Domestic Trade, Betsy Díaz Rodríguez, admitted that children from six months to two years old have not received milk since last February 5 and assured that they were working to find alternatives with small and medium-sized businesses. . That same month, the country received aid with powdered milk, rice, corn and flour from Brazil, as part of the beginning of a cooperation agreement between the South American country, the United Arab Emirates and Cuba. A donation of 500 kilograms of medical supplies and powdered milk also arrived from Asturias.

In order to give the economy a break, at the end of the year the Cuban Government launched a package of economic measures that would apparently alleviate the crisis in 2024, but which were very unpopular due to the increase in the cost of living that it means for Cubans. . The authorities not only stopped the application of these measures, but also announced the sudden dismissal of the Minister of Economy following leaving behind a country that ended the year with an inflation of 30%, an economy that contracted 2% and a context in which Thousands of Cubans find emigration the only way to escape scarcity.

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