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Article: Let them eat coconuts. (Soviet Union has not sent grain to Cuba)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- February 3, 1990
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1990 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Let them eat coconuts
THE Russians are breaking their promises, and the Cubans are short of bread. The daily bread-ration outside Havana has been cut--according to Mr Fidel Castro's faithful Council of Ministers--from 100 to 80 grammes, which is less than three ounces. Most years the Soviet Union sends enough wheat after the harvest to build stocks in Cuba of 100,000 tonnes of grain. Last year the ships never came.
The expected feed-grain did not arrive either. If it does not come, say the Cubans, they will have to slaughter several million chickens. As a stopgap, Cuba has delved into tis scarce reserve of dollars to buy Canadian wheat, but the price ...