n his recent announcement
of the fact that food ra-
tioning will be instituted in
Cuba at the end of this month,
Premier Fidel Castro blamed.
the U.S. trade embargo and.
counter - revolutionary ele-«
ments for the shortages that
have made rationing neces-
sary.

“Speculators should be tak-
en to the wall,” he declared
in his television broadcast ex-
plaining the move.

The threefold rationing
scheme deals separately with
goods rationed in Havana
only, those rationed in other
cities and towns, and those
rationed throughout the
island. :

The rationing will mean
that’ each Cuban will receive
three-quarters of a pound of
meat a week, two ounces of
butter a month, a half dozen
eggs a month, and a half a
pound of fish in 15 days.

The monthly allotment of
beans will be 24 ounces, rice
six pounds and potatoes or
yams 3% pounds.

Milk will be delivered only
to families with children
under seven or families with
more than five youngsters.

Rationing will also cover
soap, detergents and tooth-
paste.

There will also be a reduc-
tion in supplies of meat, fish
and eggs to restaurants. The
price of meat is to increas-
ed by about two cents a
pound.

The clandstine slaughter of
cattle would be a criminal of-
fence.

WHY THE RATIONING?

Canada’s daily press in pre-
senting Castro’s announce-
ment about rationing to the
Canadian public intimates
that this is proof that the pre-
sent Cuban government has
failed.

Nothing could be further
from the truth.

The rationing was institut-
ed to assure that the goods

in short supply will be equal--

ly distributed; .that the well-
to-do remnants of the upper
class (living off the fortunes.
amassed in years gone by) and
the better paid workers will
not get more than their share
of these goods at the expense
of the lower-paid workers

and those still unemployed.

This, of course, means that
those in the higher income
bracket will have their stand-
ard of living reduced, but for
thousands of workers in the

What's behin
rationing ?

lower income brackets it will
not be as much of a hardship
as some might think. Before
1959 hundreds of thousands of
Cubans seldom had meat
more than once a week, while
many never saw it for months
at a time.

The rationing is also a
move against hoarders and
the counter - revolutionaries
who deliberately spread rum-
ors in order to encourage
hoarding.

The rationing was, of course,
made necessary by the short-
ages. But what caused the
shortages.

First, it must be borne in,
mind that for the past two or
three years the Cuban people
have been eating better than
they had ever eaten before:

the workers and farmers who >

used to work only six or sev-
en months a year and are
now working the year around;
the thousands who are_now

earning more than they have

ever earned before, the 400,-
000 who were unemployed
and now have jobs; the thous-
ands of boys and girls — sons
and daughters of poor farm-
ers and fishermen — who are
now studying in boarding
schools in Havana and
other cities, where they
are fed three meals a day,
many of them for the first
time in their lives. :

This is a contributing fac-
tor to the shortages.

But the primary cause is
what Castro described as the
“brutal economic blocade” im-
posed by the US. against
Cuba. ;

ALL FROM THE U.S.

What needs to be repeated
again and again (and this our
dailies do not do) is that prior
to the revolution in 1959, and
even for a while after it, most
of the food Cuba consumed,
including meat, fish, fruits
and vegetables, was imported
from the United States; that
vast areas of Cuba’s rich soil
were uncultivated; that agri-
culture, aside from the culti-
vation of sugar, was so badly
negleeted that a country
which scientists claim can sup-
port 50 to 60 million people
was not even providing en-
ough food for its less than
seven million people; that
practically all the soap, deter-
gents and toothpaste Cubans
used — items now rationed—
‘were imported from the U.S.;
that all private automobiles
and trucks in Cuba and 90
percent of the machines in

The trial of the U.S.-financed Cuban
counter-revolutionaries of last year’s ‘in-
vasion fiasco has resumed in Cuba, On
the Sunday following the invasion, the
captured mercenaires were allowed to ex-

invasion.

plain themselves on TV and were viewed
by more than three million Cubans. Photo”
above shows a captured invader explail |
ing his reasons for taking part in the |

her industry are U.S. made.

The sudden clamping down
of the embargo and the pres-
sure that all Latin American
countries and Canada exert
has made the problem of food!
supply acute. If help had not
ben received from the social-
ist countries the situation
would have been grim indeed.

The Cuban people know.
that the proposed rationing
is not forever. It is a tempor-
ary measure. Cuba will sur-
vive the blockade.

For plans are already well
advanced to make Cuba com-
pletely © self-sufficient. in all
foods: Cuba’s land is rich en-
ough and there is plenty of it;
she has the willing hands to
cultivate it and she is getting
help from the socialist coun-
tries in the form of agricultur-
al machinery and technical
advice, It won’t be long there-
fore, before Cuba is able to
grow enough food to feed all
her people and have some to
export besides.

Is our economy
on the downturn?

By PHYLLIS CLARKE

Has the turn come already
in the economy? It is only 10
months since Canadian indus-
trial production started to
climb upward, yet last week
the Dominion Bureau of Sta-
tistics reported that the sea-
sonally. adjusted industrial
production index dropped by
two points from 180.7 in De-
cember to 178.6 in January.

This drop in Canada was
even sharper than in the Unit-
ed States.

One feature of Canadian
economic development that
bears watching is the price
index.

Although many factors
tended to point to higher
prices this summer — such as
the maintenance of the dis-

count on the dollar, the On-
tario sales tax, the announce-

Most Cuban invaders came
from dispossessed class

According to the book, “Cuba vs. the C.I.A.” by Robert
E. Light and Carl Marzini, most of the captives of the ill-

fated Cuban invasion blamed the Central Intelligence Ag-'

ency for deceiving them.

In their book they point out the background of the
"liberators.”” Of the 1214 captured “eight hundred of these
came from families who owned a total of 27,556 caballerios
of land (approximately 900,000 ccres), 9,666 houses, 70 indus-

tries, 10 sugar centrals, 2 banks and 5 mines...

am”

THE CUBANS ARE GOING
TO DIE OF HUNGER!

i

sa ME

initiated by the governm?é

economic progress...

ment that there would be ? |
big increase in military e* ]
penditures, and an increas?
in the money in circulatio?
— the anticipated rise has 89”
taken place. a
Is this because of the preo |
sure of unused capacity, D&
cause. demand has not in
creased, or because there is
no inventory buildup at pre ’
sent? 5
Meanwhile the core of U*
employed is increasing @2©”
any cut-back in productio® |
could mean large unemploy” :
ment. :
The world conditions a
getting shakier. The high #
vestment in Western Europ’
has tapered off. More and
more countries are showidé |
signs of difficulties such
in their balance of interD®
tional payments. 2
’ The signs are there for all
to see that this year of proo
perity may not fulfill t°
hopes of the economic pundi® |
of big business. 4
In December labor incom® |
was down 2.4 percent from |
November. For the first tim?”
the list price on apartmen®
in Toronto has decreased. B&
tail sales show only a off
percent change from 19
compared to 1960, which re
ly only reflects the popu
tion and price increases.
Government statistics sho”
that housing starts in Feb!™ |
ary were 16.6 percent bel
the figure of a year ago. |
the first two months this 9”
crease was 4.6 percent. 4
The economic clouds now
appearing on the  horiZ0
could well foreshadow a f%
ther decline in our econo
unless a program for
jobs through new marke

immediately.
Only such a vigorous P*

consumer spending power!
crease markets for our P
ducts and end the dependeé
of our country on the
in foreign trade — can lead
a genuine rise in our count!
productive activity and.