José Antonio Fornaris, Cuba-Verdad / CubaNet
HAVANA, September - Two weeks ago another dollar store opened, this one at
the corner of Diez de Octubre and Enamorados Street, in Havana. It sells
furniture and appliances, things like an OLG refrigerator, for 2,343 dollars;
and a Philips 21-inch TV set, 719 dollars.
There is also a new ServiFoto nearby, and in Altahabana a store that sells
sundries.
All operate exclusively in dollars.
Cubalse, the government authority dedicated to internal dollarization, is
erecting a mall at 100th Street, near Vento. Across the street, at the post
office, there is a sign that says "We have no paper to issue money orders."
The sign has been up for a month. Money orders are issued in pesos.
Everywhere in Havana, there are stores that sell only in dollars. And every
day there are more of these establishments that are the property of the
government. There are also restaurants of every description that only trade in
dollars.
Curiously, at all these establishments, employees are paid in pesos. And
also curiously, most of the customers of these establishments, except for the
most luxurious restaurants, are Cuban.
There are different interpretations for these phenomena.
Some say the remittances sent by Cubans abroad are increasing, instead of
decreasing.
Others say higher-ups in the government are investing their capital in order
to be able to justify their income, or to insure their future.
A third, more fanciful, explanation says that all dollar-denominated
government businesses are fronts for dirty businesses, such as money laundering.
At any rate, many establishments that used to trade in pesos have closed,
and there seem to be fewer of them every day.
Cuban currency is a caricature of money, while the dollar flowers in the
island, in spite of the daily diatribes by various government officials against
neoliberalism, capitalism and imperialism. That had never happened in Cuba.
Versión
original en español
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