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Comment by alamortsubite | Hacker News Reader

The problem they face is a shortage of wheat flour, not bread-making technology. Wheat doesn't grow in tropical climates (though the Brasilians are working on this). There are 10 million people on the island of Cuba. There weren't 10 million people living there and baking bread thousands of years ago.

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And why can’t they import wheat from their numerous trading partners, including China and Europe?

It’s astonishing the amount of excuses people give for the extremely corrupt, dysfunctional, and undemocratic Cuban government.

There are very limited options for doing business with Cuba due to the trade embargo laws the US has passed. US sanctions in general basically cut a country or organization out of the international banking system. There are limited exceptions for food etc but where are they supposed to get the money to pay for that food with the other industries being embargoed?

It's shocking the lack of credit you're extending to the decade's long embargo for doing it's job of keeping Cuba poor.

Russia is the single largest exporter of wheat in the world, followed by the EU, Australia, the US, Ukraine, and Argentina. China is a top producer but also a top consumer; nothing for export.

Still, plenty of it out there, at this point it's more due to local disfunction more than anything.

Cuba does import its wheat from Europe. Did you read the article?

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