Tausi Insider

As Belkis Fajardo, 69, walks through the dense streets of downtown Havana with small bag of lettuce and onions in hand, she wonders how she’ll feed her family over the holidays. Scarcity and economic turmoil are nothing new to Cuba, but Fajardo is among many Cubans to note that this year is different thanks to soaring inflation and deepening shortages. “We’ll see what we can scrap together to cook for the end of the year,” Ms. Fajardo said. “Everything is really expensive … so you buy things little-by-little as you can. And if you can’t, you don’t eat.” Basic goods such as chicken, beef, eggs, milk, flour and toilet paper are difficult and often impossible to find in state stores. When they do appear, they often come at hefty prices, either from informal shops, resellers or in expensive stores only accessible to those with foreign currency. It’s far out of the range of the average Cuban state salary, approximately 5,000 pesos a month, or $29 USD on the island’s more widely used infor...