English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
When the 3rd and 70th Free Currency Store went dark, customers had to rely on flashlights on their phones to get out. 14ymedio, José Lassa, Havana, 23 February 2025 — The dollar store at 3rd and 70th in Miramar, Havana, has been crowned the king of all the shops of its kind on the Island. … Continue reading “Cuba: Waste of Light in the Dollar Store, Black as Pitch in the MLC Store”
La Tienda Panamericana Primera del Cerro in Havana has just been inaugurated under this sales approach 14ymedio, Natalia López Moya/José Lassa, Havana, 10 March 2025 — The marquee at the entrance is still broken on one side, and the steps in front of the door still show their cracks, but the interior has changed. The … Continue reading “The ‘MLC’ Is Not Dead in Cuba: New Stores Open in Freely Convertible Currency”
The dollar stores that Tiendas Caribe and Cimex have begun to open in the provincial capitals have given their final blow. 14ymedio, José Lassa/Natalia López Moya, Havana, February 13, 2025 — “They have fans for sale in Roseland, hurry up,” writes a user in a WhatsApp group where hundreds of customers meet to monitor stores … Continue reading “Fatally Injured, Cuba’s Hard Currency (MLC) Stores Refute the Official Speech About Their Continuation”
“If that store is in dollars, I can’t enter,” complains an elderly Party activist. 14ymedio, Mercedes García, Camagüey, 26 August 2025 — Cubans who handle dollars are distinguished by certain outfits and attitudes. Many wear branded clothing, gold chains and use perfumes that remain in the air after they have already left. Shops in US … Continue reading “At the Calle Cuba Store in Camagüey, the Dollar Has Free Rein”
Two doctors told ‘14ymedio‘ that the bank told them it did not have the foreign currency to pay them what they were owed under the contract upon their return to the island. 14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, June 12, 2025 — After years of being on a medical mission in Angola, the Cuban doctors, when … Continue reading “Cuban Government Cheats Doctors Returning From Mission in Angola and Gives Them MLC Instead of Dollars”
“It hasn’t been open for a month,” an employee of a small candy kiosk told ’14ymedio’. 14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 8 June 2025 — The showdown between the American dollar and the freely convertible currency (MLC) continues to be won by the dollar. The supermarket on 3rd and 70th, in Havana, has finally succumbed … Continue reading “The Supermarket in ‘MLC’ on 3rd and 70th Succumbs to its Rival in Dollars”
14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Matanzas, 7 April 2025 — The debate has changed focus. Just a year and a half ago, the discussion was why the government had raised an “eyesore in MLC” [Freely Convertible Currency] – as a well-known journalist of the official press called it- out of harmony with the historical environment and … Continue reading “Matanzas Residents With Family Abroad Dream of a Dollar Store”
The store, located on 37th Avenue, reopened with the new payment method last week. 14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, 18 March 2025 — Unafraid of ideological contradictions, the stern visage of Che Guevara, “a knight without blemish or fear”—a verse from a poem dedicated to the guerrilla—crowns the building that houses the first dollar store … Continue reading “Under the Gaze of ‘Che’ Guevara the Dollar Comes to Stores in Cienfuegos, Cuba”
Instead of coins, customers who pay with cash must accept their change in the form of candies or ‘other products available by the cash registers’ 14ymedio, Madrid, 30 January 2025 — The military conglomerate Gaesa plans to progressively expand trade in dollars to a large number of establishments in its network through Tiendas Caribe and … Continue reading “Cimex and Caribe Will Open Dollar Stores in All Cuban Provinces”
Customers can pay with MLC, but employees suggest that they are going to remove this option 14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodriguez/Olea Gallardo, Havana, 6 January 2025 –Although it has not attracted as much attention as the Supermarket on 3rd and 70th, which opened a day later, the store on Infanta and Santa Marta in Havana is … Continue reading “Cuban Military from Gaesa Partner with the Spanish Vima in Another Dollarized Store”
“We Holguin residents are such that if they prick us we don’t even bleed” 14ymedio, Miguel García, Holguín, 25 October 2024 — Although the people of Holguín only have memories of October’s Hurricane Oscar, the El Nickel store, located at the intersection of Frexes and Máximo Gómez streets, still has its windows covered with panels. … Continue reading “In Holguín, Cuba, the Windows of Hard Currency Stores Are Kept Covered for Fear of Being Stoned”
Problems have been growing, especially in the basement, where food items are sold. Havana, Natalia López Moya, July 12, 2024 — A crude sign sits on top of a shopping basket that blocks the entrance to the Roseland store on the corner of Neptuno and Águila streets in Central Havana. The makeshift message warns customers … Continue reading “Roseland, a Hard-Currency Store, Closed Due to Leaks”
14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Matanzas, May 12, 2024 — The idea that stores that only take payment in freely convertible currency (MLC) were created to supply markets in pesos is a mantra that Valeria repeats, ironically, when she enters one of those stores in Matanzas. The half-empty showcases, the labels with unthinkable prices and the … Continue reading “Cuba’s Foreign Currency Store Prices Are Prohibitive for the Majority of the People of Matanzas”
14ymedio, Juan Matos, Manzanillo, January 16, 2024 – The authorities of Manzanillo, in the province of Granma, have covered the windows of the stores in freely convertible currency (MLC). In recent months, stone attacks on these shops have increased, because of the population’s discontent. Covering the windows is a temporary measure that seeks to protect … Continue reading “In Manzanillo, the Windows of Hard Currency Stores Are Covered Against Stones”
14ymedio, Havana, 6 December 2023 — “Error.” That word, appearing this Wednesday on the payment terminal screens at the Casa del Café Mamá Inés in Old Havana, destroys the illusions of the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC) about the effectiveness of the Russian Mir cards. Despite its commitment to the officials of the Russian National … Continue reading “Russian Mir Cards Give an ‘Error’ Message at the Store Where the Central Bank of Cuba Did the Tests”