HAVANA, July 26 (Edel José García, CNP) - The announcement
that malnourished children will be allowed to buy increased amounts of certain
foods under the government's rationing system provoked curious comments here.
"This is the end. There's no respect," said Josefa Rodríguez,
a resident of the fashionable Vedado district of Havana. Her 15-year-old
daughter was given the right to buy two pounds of split peas and two pounds of
rice, three pounds of pasta and one pound of oil each month.
A woman who would not be identified, said "What the government has to
do is shut down the dollar stores and sell the food usually sold there without
restrictions, and in pesos."
An old man who heard her said, "If they'll sell you more, take it. What
are we going to do? When they take away, we don't even have a right to complain,
because we'll end up with more problems than we already have."
Starting in January of this year, the government undertook a survey in the
schools, presumably to demonstrate how healthy Cuban children were, but results
have raised unexpected alarms, and cast doubts on the government's contention
that Cuba is a world power in public health. Neither the government nor the
official press have published the results of the survey, but the word in the
street is that 30 to 40, and perhaps as high as 70 percent of the children show
signs of malnutrition.
Word is also out that all personnel that participated in the survey have
been requested to keep quiet about it.
Independent experts say that not only children, but the whole of the Cuban
population shows signs of poor nutrition. "In Cuba, beef is almost
exclusively for tourists, pork is unaffordable for the average Cuban, eggs are
rationed to six per person per month, and milk is only available to children
under the age of 7. This will give you an idea as to the lack of protein in the
average Cuban's diet," said one nutritional expert.
Versión
original en español
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