A Cuban state-run newspaper recently promoted an article touting the alleged benefits of using human urine as an agricultural fertilizer, the independent website CubanetĀ reportedĀ on Wednesday.
A publication calledĀ 5 de Septiembre, which is the official government-run newspaper of Cubaās Cienfuegos province, recently āshared an articleĀ suggesting that Cubans fertilize crops with human urine,ā Cubanet relayed on May 11.
āAs has happened on other occasions with different [Cuban] state media,Ā September 5Ā republished an article shared by a foreign media outlet, in this case Agence France-Presse (AFP), which on April 28 published [an article titled] āHuman Urine, an Unexpected but Effective and Less Polluting Fertilizer,ā the Cuban news website detailed.
āIt should be noted thatĀ September 5Ā does not refer to the original source of the article (AFP), but to the [online news] portalĀ GestiĆ³n, from Peru, which reproduced it in full two days later,ā Cubanet.org clarified.
News that Havana pushed Cuban farmers to use human urine as an alternative fertilizer in late April followed almost exactly one month after a state-run media outlet from Cubaās Pinar del RĆo provinceĀ promotedĀ an article in late March describing the alleged nutritional value of cockroach milk.
The Facebook account of Radio GuamĆ”, which is a local state-run radio station in Pinar del RĆo province, republished an article on March 29 āhighlighting the ānutritional valueā of cockroach milk,ā Cubanet.orgĀ reportedĀ at the time.
āThe experiment ā¦ offers some details that you may find very interesting. We invite you to read this scientific curiosity to the end,ā Radio GuamĆ” wrote in a caption accompanying the republished article (originally from the Spanish magazineĀ Mercatrace) on March 29.
An archivedĀ webpageĀ from the news website of Radio GuamĆ” appears to show that the state broadcaster also recommended the cockroach milk article to its readers in a separate but similar report on March 28.
The Communist Party of Cuba has previously suggested its citizens, many of whom suffer from food shortages caused by the policies of the Party, consume alternative food sources such asĀ crocodiles,Ā rodents,Ā ostrich eggs, andĀ banana peels.
Cuba is an impoverished country that owes much of its misfortune to the communist policies of Fidel Castro, who seized control of the island nation in 1959 and ruled through 2008. The nationās ruling Communist Party has struggled to provide its citizens with sufficient food for decades. Established food shortages in Cuba haveĀ grown worseĀ over the past five years due to theĀ mismanagementĀ of a top Communist Party leader named Miguel DĆaz-Canel.
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