US EditionCubans struggle to survive on pocket-size government ration books as products dwindle
State stores are nearly empty as Cubans rely on shrinking rations, low wages and remittances, with one professor saying the government ran out of funds.
- On Saturday, May 2, 2026, Cuba's state-run ration book system stood nearly empty in Havana, leaving nearly 10 million residents unable to rely on it for survival as shelves at bodegas sat bare.
- Revolutionary leader Fidel Castro established the ration book in the early 1960s to provide subsidized goods, but the system faltered after the 2021 currency merger triggered severe inflation that persists today.
- Havana resident Ana Enamorado earns $16 monthly in salary and pension combined, yet a carton of 30 eggs costs roughly $125 in private markets, illustrating the vast gap between income and survival costs.
- Roughly 60% of Cubans depend on foreign remittances to survive, while those without family abroad like Enamorado are forced to cut back to one meal daily amid profound scarcity of essential goods.
- William LeoGrande, a professor at American University, warned the government's budget imbalance and failed tourism investments deepen the crisis, as balancing budgets without cutting social services remains an intractable challenge.
46 Articles
46 Articles
Basic goods in Cuba are increasingly sold in U.S. dollars as economy collapses. 'Everything is scarce here — everything — even that wretched bread'
José Luis Amate López hasn’t had a customer in almost two weeks, not counting the scrawny brown kitten that slinks around the bodega where he works in central Havana. The shelves once laden with goods during his childhood sat nearly empty in late April, with barely anything to offer the 5,000 clients who depend on the state-run store for subsidized food. Government ration books that once provided for a healthy diet and kept families fully fed fo…
Havana—José Luis Amate López has not had a customer in almost two weeks, not to mention the skinny brown kitten that sneaks out of the cellar where he works in downtown Havana. The shelves, which during his childhood were full of products, remained almost empty at the end of April, with just a few things to offer to the 5,000 customers who depend on the state store to obtain subsidized food. The government ration books, which previously guarante…
Associated Press News
Cubans struggle to survive on pocket-size government ration books as products dwindle
Cuba's pocket-size government ration book has been circulating for more than six decades. It once offered a bounty of products that have dwindled as the island's economic crises deepen.
José Luis Amate López has not had a customer in almost two weeks, not to mention the skinny brown kitten that sneaks out through the cellar where he works in the center of Havana. The shelves, which during his childhood were full of products, remained almost empty at the end of April, with just a few things [...] La entrada Cubans try to survive with rationing pads in the middle of the shortage #3May was first published in El Impulso.
In Cuba, which is under de facto blockade due to the United States sanctions, food problems have reached such an extent that local residents have little to buy on food cards (the same as la libreta), as reported by AP.
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