Cuba’s economic choices and strategies are often confusing, contradictory, and tend to intensify rather than alleviate the problems facing most people. The line outside the store illustrates these aspects of daily life in Cuba. First, ongoing food scarcity and supply chain issues that predate the COVID-19 pandemic have become exacerbated since, which leads to long waits in the hopes of entering a store. People may wait in line all day, only to enter and find that the groceries have run out. Second, inexplicable government policy choices designated some stores as only accepting US dollars on pre-paid cards as the means of purchasing some food items. This made it more difficult for Cubans whose main salaries are in the Cuban peso and who do not have family outside the country who are able to send money to Cuban family members. Finally, these policies have had negative impacts on food security for many Cuban people. The ongoing inefficiency, lack of transparency, and incompetence that characterize so many of the government economic behaviors around basic needs like food.