To Have and Have Not

To Have and Have Not

Cuba has two currencies. The original is called "moneda nacional (MN)" and is what the common citizen carries around and what shows up in his paycheck. It takes about 25 pesos of moneda nacional to equal one dollar US. In the early 1990's, after the fall of the Soviet Union, times were tough in Cuba as their support payments from the USSR dried up, never to return. The Cuban government's reaction was to allow dollars to circulate--that's right, good old American Greenbacks. That gave people a hard currency to use in trade, but I imagine Fidel and his friends soon tired of having George, Abe, Alexander, and Andrew's pictures in their wallets.

They didn't try to replace the MN peso with a hard currency because they didn't have enough assets to back a true, universally used hard currency, so someone invented the CUC, which means convertible currency. CUC's are worth about $1.08 each, and it is the currency you use as a tourist while in Cuba.

Now don't expect to get a supply of CUC's at your local bank for your trip to Cuba--it won't happen. The only place you can exchange dollars and CUC's is at the Cuban airports on arriving or leaving and at various Cuban currency exchanges, perhaps in your hotel. But before you load up on dollars to exchange for CUC's in Cuba, you should know that the Cuban government assesses a 20% penalty for exchanging dollars and CUC's. Frankly it's better to buy Euros at home and then exchange CUC's with Euros once you're there.

Oh, and don't forget to spend as many of your CUC's as you can before heading to the airport to leave. When you try the EURO/CUC exchange on leaving, they'll see you are flying to the US and insist on giving you dollars for your CUC's, even if you want Euros. And of course they get the 20% penalty too. So CUC's are a hard currency, sort of, and with them you can buy nearly anything you want in Cuba. Yes, if you have the CUC's, which ordinary citizens don't, you can get nearly anything you want. Let's see how it works.

A shiny new Peugeot or Hyundai taxi charges you CUC's while the citizen flags down 1950's era jitneys which give off smoke and noise. He pays in MN Pesos. Even the cute little Coco Taxis accept CUC's, but the citizen pays MN for an old man powered Pedi cab ride. A foreign national with permission to live and work in Cuba gets paid from his company in hard currency and can even buy a new car--paying in CUC's of course. The man in the street is on foot in the street because he'll never have enough CUC's to buy a car, and he couldn't anyway because he can't get official permission to buy it.

This two world existence has created a privileged class in Cuba. They aren't wealthy Cubans; they are the hotel maids, waiters and taxi drivers. They get their tips in CUC's and have access to many consumer items that only ex-pats and foreign business people can buy.

And if you're a dog owner with CUC's what is the local vet's office like? Well, you can find some who cater to the moneyed people. I priced a 20 pound bag of kibbled dog food in the vet's vestibule. It was $57 CUC--not exactly cheap. You don't need a prescription for your pet meds, but they are on sale at the vet's. The prices are in CUC's, which limits the clientele considerably.

On Calle Obispo, Havana's main tourist shopping street, there's a pet store. There I priced a decent looking dog collar at 14 CUC. Too steep for my budget, I thought. So no wonder you don't see the Cuban workers in those stores--their salaries range from the equivalent of 15 to 25 dollars a month. Yes even specialist medical doctors can't afford to shop in those places.

Here in the US we complain that taxes are too high and the dollar doesn't buy enough, but at least we don't have to contend with two currencies, one of which is worthless and the other reserved for visitors.

Les Inglis