New York, 26 January 2021. The difficulties in the fuel supply to Cuba, owing to the persecution unleashed by the US government that resulted in penalties against companies, tankers and shipping companies that carry fuel to the island, caused interruptions in the production cycles of several companies in the food and agricultural sector, as well as in the crops.
As a result, between the months of November and December 2019, it was not possible to plant 12 399 hectares of rice due to fuel unavailability. In consequence, 30 130 tons of rice were not produced for the consumption needs of the population.
Similarly, more than 195,000 tons of root and tuber crops were not produced. In addition, more than 2 million liters of milk and 481 tons of meat were not collected, which impacted negatively on the Cuban population’s diet.
At the Los Portales factory, located in the province of Pinar del RÃo, production came to a halt for 77 days, because its warehouses were full of finished products, but the factory did not have the necessary fuel for their transportation. This resulted in at least 2 million boxes of soft drinks and water that were not produced and marketed, which is equivalent to a loss of 10.9 million dollars.
In spite of this, the Cuban state establishes mechanisms to ensure the nourishment of the Cuban people and to minimize the negative impact of the US sanctions. If the costs of the blockade were to be reversed in the country’s capacity to pay, this would make it possible to have an additional, substantive and sustained source of financing that would give greater dynamism to the investment programs linked to the strategic sectors of the National Economic and Social Development Plan until 2030. In this way, the necessary conditions would be created to gradually achieve sustained rates of growth in the annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations.
