Search results for: mlc

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”

ATMS in Camaguey, Cuba: Few and With Many Problems

14ymedio, Ricardo Fernández, Camagüey, 20 February 2021 — Despite the Cuban economy’s urgent need for foreign exchange and commercial operations, one of the basic elements of the commercial chain continues to have serious problems. ATMs to withdraw cash are a headache, especially in the province, where they fail, do not have bills or cannot meet … Continue reading “ATMS in Camaguey, Cuba: Few and With Many Problems”

Two Ways to Get Rid of CUCs in Cuba: Line Up at the Bank or Give Tips

Vice President Marino Murillo celebrated on the Roundtable TV program on State TV that Cubans have already disposed of half of the 600 or 700 million CUC that are expected to be put out of circulation between January 1 and June 30 of this year. “We designed that the CUC was going to be alive … Continue reading “Two Ways to Get Rid of CUCs in Cuba: Line Up at the Bank or Give Tips”

After a Two-Hour ‘Blackout’ in Cuba, Internet and Mobile Data Return

14ymedio, Madrid, 12 February 2021 — Cuba was cut off from the world for two hours by an internet blackout. Telephone communications were also affected in the capital and in all areas of the country. The 14ymedio correspondent in Spain lost contact with the Havana Newsroom shortly after 12 noon but was able to establish communication with a … Continue reading “After a Two-Hour ‘Blackout’ in Cuba, Internet and Mobile Data Return”

The Hunt for Hard Currency Never Ends

Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, January 26, 2021 — The emergence of retail stores that only accept freely convertible currency — known in Cuba as MLC stores — and a system governing exports by private entrepreneurs are two recent developments that have attracted attention from analysts and observers of the Cuban economy due to their significant … Continue reading “The Hunt for Hard Currency Never Ends”

Santiago de Cuba Stops the Sale of Food in Pesos and Dollars From Friday to Sunday

14ymedio, Francisco Herodes Díaz Echemendía, Santiago De Cuba , 15 January 2021 —  All state and private businesses that surround La Plaza de Santiago de Cuba dawned this Friday completely closed. The shopping center, one of the three that sell food products in freely convertible currency (MLC) in the eastern city, has had its doors closed since the … Continue reading “Santiago de Cuba Stops the Sale of Food in Pesos and Dollars From Friday to Sunday”

It Smells Like Cheese, But It’s Not Cheese

14ymedio, Havana, 5 January 2021– El Paisa made his living until a few months ago by bringing milk, cheese, butter and yogurt from a town in Güira, Artemisa, to Havana. His clients were about twenty families scattered around the tall buildings that surround the train station on Tulipán Street, in Nuevo Vedado. The business that … Continue reading “It Smells Like Cheese, But It’s Not Cheese”