Regarding “Cuba to Ration Sales of Basic Food Items” (World News, May 13), Cuba’s Commerce Minister Betsy Diaz asserts that the U.S. embargo forces the island to buy food from distant markets, which raises prices. The “distant markets” for about 75% of Cuba’s food imports are actually in the U.S. The embargo, such as it is, requires such sales to be on a cash basis. Credit sales are denied so as to prevent Cuba from stiffing U.S. suppliers, as it has done with all its other trading partners.

What is causing food shortages...