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Hurricane Oscar Devastates Coffee Harvest in Key Cuban Region

Friday, November 1, 2024 by Ernesto Alvarez

The coffee plantations in Maisí, a municipality in Guantánamo, have suffered severe devastation due to Hurricane Oscar. This province, alongside Santiago de Cuba, ranks as the second-largest coffee-producing area in Cuba and was battered by relentless winds and rain from the storm.

Maisí stands as the top coffee-producing region in Guantánamo, where coffee cultivation is the backbone of its agricultural economy. "The impact was significant, primarily due to the intense winds. We are currently in the middle of the coffee harvest. Up until the storm hit, we had collected 56,000 cans of coffee. Unfortunately, we lost over 35,000 ripe coffee cans that we couldn't gather, totaling an estimated loss of 75,000 cans," stated Pablo Vega, vice president of the Provincial Defense Council, during a Cuban Television broadcast.

Recovery Efforts Underway

In addition to the coffee loss, Vega acknowledged that "more than 500 hectares of bananas grown alongside coffee have been affected." A recovery program has been initiated to salvage as much of the damaged crops as possible.

At 4:30 pm on Sunday, October 20th, Punta Maisí's weather station recorded a wind gust of 103 km/h, signaling the hurricane's imminent arrival in eastern Cuba. The following day, the Cuban government reported preliminary damage assessments showing over a thousand homes affected in several Guantánamo municipalities. The hurricane left a trail of destruction: roofless houses, fallen zinc roofs, partial collapses of wooden homes, flattened plantations, damaged power lines, and remnants of flooding highlighted the storm's ferocity.

Impact on Local Communities

Maisí emerged as one of the hardest-hit areas after the hurricane struck. Roeldis Román Tomasén, president of the local Defense Council, revealed that 8,904 residents were evacuated, with the majority, 8,679, choosing to seek refuge with family, friends, and neighbors. The area experienced wind gusts reaching 101 km/h, with the most extensive damage observed in the housing sector, described as "substantial." Coffee production and banana plantations were among the most severely impacted economic sectors.

Worsening the Coffee Supply Crisis

This disaster further complicates the already troubled distribution of coffee under Cuba's rationing system. Since August, Cubans have not received their coffee quota through the ration book, a problem that has been chronic for years and has recently worsened.

In mid-July, Betsy Díaz Velázquez, minister of Internal Trade, presented her ministry's "accountability" report to the National Assembly of People's Power. "The year 2023 ended with shortages in beans, sugar, oil, coffee, chicken, meat products, eggs, and domestic fuels, which persisted into the first quarter of 2024," Díaz Velázquez stated nonchalantly, fully aware that this "accountability" charade allows the Cuban regime's ministers to evade responsibility for their incompetence.

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