A crowd of neighbors in Santiago de Cuba staged a chaotic scene early this weekend as they tried to buy just three pounds of potatoes per person, according to a video shared on social media.
The audiovisual material was shared on Facebook by independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada, who captured the moment when dozens of visibly nervous people were waiting for their turn in front of a state sales outlet.
In the images, shouts, arguments, and gestures of annoyance can be heard, while a popular voice yells the now emblematic “¡Súbelo, Mayeta!,” a phrase that the people of Santiago have turned into a battle cry against daily hardships.
The scene highlights the deep food crisis facing the island, where basic products like potatoes are distributed to the population in rationed amounts, in minimal quantities, and under a distribution system characterized by scarcity and disorganization.
In a previous report, the opposition figure José Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU)
The situation has sparked outrage on social media, where many Cubans lament having to wake up early in the morning to obtain such a basic food item in such limited quantities.
So far, the authorities have not provided explanations regarding the ongoing shortages or the conditions under which distribution is organized. In the meantime, citizens continue to report, record, and share their daily lives as a form of resistance against the precariousness.
In this context, the lines to buy the tuber have become a symbol of the hopelessness that many Cuban families face in their daily struggle for survival.
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