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Arroz, que carne no hay! :
Rice, because there's no meat!
You know those time share deals where you get a free weekend stay
somewhere with the provision that you have to listen to some
presentation for hours?
Fidel Castro does the same thing:
HAVANA (Reuters) - President Fidel Castro has given Cuban women some
good news on International Women's Day: rice cookers are coming to every
household.
In a five-hour 45-minute speech to cheering women on Tuesday night, the
Cuban leader announced 100,000 pressure cookers and rice cookers would
be available each month at subsidized prices.
"Those of you who like rice cookers, raise your hands," Castro said to
applause from hundreds of women. The 78-year-old leader spent two hours
talking about the merits of pressure cookers.
Castro's gesture may have carried some irony, coming on a day
commemorating women's battles for equality. But many Cuban women, who do
the vast majority of domestic work despite advances toward equality
under Castro, were only too happy to hear the Chinese-made rice cookers
were on their way.
The electric rice cooker is a treasured appliance in communist-run Cuba,
where the basic diet is black beans and rice. The cookers were among
appliances banned to save energy a decade ago when Cuba was plunged into
economic crisis and power outages due to the loss of Soviet aid and oil.
The cookers could be distributed now, Castro said, because Cuba was
emerging from the crisis and had resolved its latest energy crunch,
caused by a failure of the island's largest power plant last summer.
With average salaries of $12 (6.24 pounds) a month, most Cubans cannot
afford rice cookers that now sell for $60 on the black market.
"They will be received with open arms. When the gas goes, you can make
beans, boil vegetables or heat up milk for the baby," said a Cuban
housewife.
She said electric rice cookers are vital in rural Cuba, where households
cook on wood or coal fires when gas is not available.
Posted by Val Prieto
Source:
www.Netforcuba.org
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