Some Cubans depend on sugar water as food shortages bite

HAVANA, Sept 19 (AFP): Subsidized food, without which most Cubans would not eat at all, is becoming ever more scarce and expensive as the government, battling sanctions, struggles to pay for imports.

Breads are smaller-not even the size of an adult hand-rice is rare, and oil and coffee are nowhere to be found.

"Some go to bed without eating anything, just water with sugar, if they have it," said 57-year-old Rosalia Terrero, who works at one of Havana's "bodegas," where subsidized food can be bought.

The store's shelves are almost empty.

Terrero's own family of seven survive in large part on a piece of subsidized bread each per day-the weight of which the government has reduced from 80 to 60 grams (2.8 to 2.1 ounces) which she says is not enough "to fill your stomach."

Other staples include rice and beans.

Most people cannot afford to buy from privately-run shops-authorized in the communist nation only three years ago-or from non-subsidized state stores that accept only foreign currency.

Cuba is battling its worst economic crisis in 30 years, with sky-high inflation and an average monthly salary of barely $42.

But the food shortage "is what hits Cubans the hardest," Terrero told AFP.

"If you don't have rice on the table, pasta or macaroni, it's not as noticeable, but when there's nothing at all, it hits very hard. Cubans stay upset from the moment they wake up until they go to bed."