Owned by the state but supplied by individual farmers and newly legalized autonomous farming cooperatives, this butcher’s stand was always mobbed despite its limited selection (pork) and hours of operation (mainly Saturday mornings). The disappearance of already limited “proteins” in the ration system of food distribution after the collapse of the Soviet Union meant that Cuban customers were often more grateful than frustrated by conditions that any Latin American or US shopper would have found unacceptable. Centro Habana, June 1995.
