Surviving in the Cuban Jungle / Ivan Garcia

Ivan Garcia, Havana, 10 May 2021 — It is the law of survival of the fittest: only the most quarrelsome, opportunistic, and worthless citizens can get ahead. From top to bottom, today’s Cuban society is a jungle. A failed state that lives off ideological propaganda, promises it never keeps, and a chaotic subsistence economy. If you … Continue reading “Surviving in the Cuban Jungle / Ivan Garcia”

Little by Little, The Dollar is Imposed on Neighborhood Stores in Cuba

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 21 May 2021 — One day, they close due to a supposed renovation or the need to take inventory, and weeks later they open in another currency. That is the story of many neighborhood stores that have gone from selling in Cuban pesos to offering their products in freely convertible … Continue reading “Little by Little, The Dollar is Imposed on Neighborhood Stores in Cuba”

Cuba: The Hard Currency Store in Sancti Spiritus Hasn’t Opened Yet and There is Already a Line

14ymedio, Mercedes García, Sancti Spíritus, 24 May 2021 — Faces glued to the windows and eyebrows raised after reading the prices, is the reaction of many residents of the city of Sancti Spíritus when they pass in front of the Quinto Siglo store, the most recent of the markets in that province that has switched from … Continue reading “Cuba: The Hard Currency Store in Sancti Spiritus Hasn’t Opened Yet and There is Already a Line”

Cuban Government Will Regulate Foreign Exchange in Bank Accounts of State Companies and Private Sector

14ymedio, Havana, 20 May 2021 — The Cuban Government is limiting the use of accounts in freely convertible currency (MLC) of state companies and self-employed persons authorized to sell in dollars, following the approval this Wednesday of Resolution 157/2021 of the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC). The legal rule, which will come into effect on June 3, stipulates … Continue reading “Cuban Government Will Regulate Foreign Exchange in Bank Accounts of State Companies and Private Sector”

Cuba: The High Price of Feed is Ending Family Pig Farming

14ymedio, Havana, 19 May 2021 — Between last September and the middle of this month, the Logistics Business Group of Cuba’s Ministry of Agriculture (Gelma) has  more than three million dollars in merchandise in its network of agricultural supplies and equipment stores, as announced this Tuesday by executives of the state company which also identified … Continue reading “Cuba: The High Price of Feed is Ending Family Pig Farming”

The Lament of a Cuban Doctor in Algeria

14ymedio, Anonymous, Algiers, 16 May 2021 — The Cuban medical mission in Algeria is, according to the assessments of the Island’s Ministry of Health, an example to the world and an international flagship. They boast on the networks to overshadow the shouted truths that come out of the little more than 850 professionals who work … Continue reading “The Lament of a Cuban Doctor in Algeria”

Cuban Farmer Thanks the Revolution for Being Able to Buy a Tractor in Dollars

14ymedio, Havana, 10May 2021 — The farmer Herminio Martínez Gens thanked the Revolution on Monday for being able to buy a tractor for $27,000 USD. The producer was the first in the province of Villa Clara to acquire this type of vehicle, model Belarus 82.1, in the store of the Agricultural Supplies Company, which sells only in … Continue reading “Cuban Farmer Thanks the Revolution for Being Able to Buy a Tractor in Dollars”

Why Can’t a Cuban Farmer Buy a Tractor With Cuban Pesos?

Elias Amor Bravo, Economist, 8 May 2021 — It is hard to imagine a Spanish or French agricultural producer wanting to buy a tractor and having pay for it in dollars in a store in Spain or France. I comment on this circumstance here and my interlocutors are surprised. Then comes the tentative question, can’t a … Continue reading “Why Can’t a Cuban Farmer Buy a Tractor With Cuban Pesos?”

A Cuban Enters a ‘Dollar Store’ For the First Time and is Frightened

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 10 May 2021 — From the outside it still looks the same, but inside the Plaza de Carlos III a silent battle is taking place. On the one hand, the best-stocked stores that accept payment only in foreign currency, and on the other, a few stores that still sell in … Continue reading “A Cuban Enters a ‘Dollar Store’ For the First Time and is Frightened”

Cuba: Even the Stores That Operate Only in Dollars Have Nothing to Sell

14ymedio, Havana, April 20, 2021 — The shortage of basic necessities endemic to peso stores is also affecting retail businesses where customers need freely convertible foreign currency, known locally as MLC, to make purchases. Long lines from one day to the next and empty shelves are constants in these stores that sell in dollars. Less … Continue reading “Cuba: Even the Stores That Operate Only in Dollars Have Nothing to Sell”

The History of the CUC, or How the Dollar’s Bastard Brother Shaped the Lives of Cubans for 27 Years

14ymedio, Carla Gloria Colomé Santiago, New York, 28 March 2021 — The CUC has died and died young, like Amy Winehouse, Jimi Hendrix or Janis Joplin, just 27 years old. The CUC, the Cuban convertible peso or chavito, as it has also been called, would become the substitute actor of the dollar that, at times, … Continue reading “The History of the CUC, or How the Dollar’s Bastard Brother Shaped the Lives of Cubans for 27 Years”

Electric Tricycles Sell Like Crazy for Dollars in Cuba

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 23 March 2021 — Those who visited the store that sells in hard currency (MLC) on Infanta Street, in Centro Habana, on Monday, could not believe it: for sale were the first electric vehicles for private sale in more than half a century. Two models of electric cargo tricycles were on display, … Continue reading “Electric Tricycles Sell Like Crazy for Dollars in Cuba”

Insatiable, Etecsa Seeks to Take Over Remittance Business in Cuba

14ymedio, Havana, 19 March 2021 — “Two recharges with bonus in a single month, they must be very hard up for money,” thinks Lázaro Miguel, a 27-year-old young man who makes a living in Havana updating mobile operating systems and selling vouchers for cell phones. So far this year, his work has multiplied because the state … Continue reading “Insatiable, Etecsa Seeks to Take Over Remittance Business in Cuba”

Even the Stores Selling in Dollars are in Crisis in Cuba

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 15 March 2021 — Not a year has passed since their opening and the stores that sell food and cleaning products in foreign currency are already going through a crisis. Little supply and very long lines mark the days in the most criticized shops in the country, the only ones, however, that still … Continue reading “Even the Stores Selling in Dollars are in Crisis in Cuba”

Cubadebate’s Readers Rebel Against a Manipulated Survey

14ymedio, Havana, 5 March 2021 — After withdrawing the results of the survey carried out at the beginning of this week on the Ordering Task, the State website Cubadebate has published an article this Friday with some of the trends that the responses to the survey showed, but hiding the most unfavorable percentages. The manipulation of this information is drawing angry … Continue reading “Cubadebate’s Readers Rebel Against a Manipulated Survey”