Search results for: mules

14ymedio, Havana, 9 December 2021 — The unlimited importation of food, hygiene products and medicines is extended for another half year in Cuba. The measure was approved last July, just three days after the outbreak of the anti-government protests of 11J (11 July) and was scheduled to expire on December 31, but it is extended … Continue reading “Cuban Customs Extends Free Entry of Foods and Other Products for Six Months”

14ymedio, Havana, 3 December 2021 — The Minister of Economy, Alejandro Gil Fernández, announced in the Council of Ministers this week that there will be a “lifting of all entities that sell in MLC (freely convertible currency) without authorization.” “It is not a decision of a company, from today to tomorrow, to put its sales … Continue reading “Cuban Governments Finds Several Stores Are Selling in Dollars Without Authorization”

14ymedio, Havana, 24 November, 2021 — There was not a soul this Tuesday in the basement of the Habana Libre hotel where long lines used to form to buy tickets to Nicaragua’s capital city, Managua, but the storm is coming. After Nicaragua made public this Monday that it will stop requiring visas for Cubans, it only remains … Continue reading “Suspicion Grows that the Cuban Regime is Preparing a Slow Motion Mariel* Through Nicaragua”

14ymedio, Havana, October 17, 2021 “I am selling six pairs of sexy, modern underwear, used but well cared for,” reads a notice on one of Cuba’s most popular classified ad sites. It informs interested buyers that “they are like new, with firm elastic,” a plus in a country where, for over a year, it has … Continue reading “With Underwear Like This, Nobody in Cuba Is Getting Undressed”

14ymedio, Havana, July 22, 2021 — Garage sales, a retail option that many Cuban shoppers have been using for some years, have been legalized according to an announcement that appeared on Tuesday in the Official Gazette. Another resolution also allows customers to purchase items using installment plans from retail stores that offer them. The Ministry … Continue reading “Garage Sales and Installment Plans Legalized in Cuba”

14ymedio, Havana, 5 July 2021 — A carpenter in Guantanamo is, so far, the only self-employed tradesman who has been able to import supplies for his own business. Imports by private individuals have only been allowed in Cuba since August. All such transactions must be done in dollars, however, and with state-owned companies acting as … Continue reading “Import of $3,000 in Locks and Hinges Seen as an Accomplishment in Cuba”

14ymedio, Havana, June 19, 2021 — The economic crisis and pandemic-related travel restrictions have turned the compass of Cuban emigration towards Russia, which offers two advantages: there are no visa requirements and there are several flights there a week. As a result, thousands of Cubans are traveling to Moscow, hoping either to stay there permanently … Continue reading “Cubans Selling Their Few Belongings to Fly to Moscow: ‘I Prefer Putin’s Russia’”

14ymedio, Havana, June 21, 2021 — Some of the unknowns that have hung over the island in the last ten days began to lift today, which marked the start of a suspension on certain types of dollar transactions. Though banks will no longer allow customers to make cash deposits of U.S. currency, the dollar remains … Continue reading “The Dollar Remains Legal in Cuba though Banks No Longer Accept Cash Deposits”

14ymedio, Havana, June 17, 2021 — Barely forty-eight hours had passed since officials in Havana announced that they would not be processing travel documents or passport applications before they were forced to reverse course. The measure, adopted on Monday as part of a Covid-19 containment strategy in the Cuban capital, had generated widespread discontent “Yes, … Continue reading “Cuban Passport and ID Cards to Be Issued Again after Public Outcry”

14ymedio, Havana, 17 June 2021 — As of June 20, Cubans who want to leave the island via Matanzas and Ciego de Ávila must present, before boarding, payment for the hotel where they will spend, on their return, a mandatory 7-day isolation period. This must be paid in freely convertible currency (MLC) and out of … Continue reading “Before Traveling, Cubans Must Pay in Foreign Currency for Quarantine on Their Return”

14ymedio, Havana, April 23, 2021 — More than half a century ago everyone knew the big store on the corner of Galiano and San Rafael streets in Havana as “Tencent.” After it and others like it were nationalized, it became a state-owned business that for decades sold only rationed products. That’s how it remained until … Continue reading “The Store of Many Faces and Long Lines”