Hard Times For Smokers In Cuba

[Nino]

Funny, no mention of US embargo here ( so far ), so it's gotta be an internal issue ...

The number of Criollos cigarettes for sale in Havana Bodegas is cut in half
The quota of a pack of Aromas and another of Titans is maintained
14ymedio, Havana | June 13, 2021

https://www.14ymedio.com/cuba/Reducen-cantidad-cigarros-Criollos-Habana_0_3111888782.html

Smokers have received another bad news this Saturday, when the authorities announced a reduction in the number of Criollos cigarettes that will be sold in Havana through the bodegas. Each consumer will receive, through the ration book, only half of the eight packs promised last week.

"The regulated sale of Criollos cigarettes that began this Saturday in the Havana Bodegas was reduced the day before from eight to four packs per consumer due to the shortage of raw materials," explains a note published in the local newspaper Tribuna de La Habana.

Julio Martínez Roque, the head of the Food subgroup of the Temporary Working Group to confront covid-19 in the Cuban capital, clarified that the quota of a pack of Aromas and another of Titanes is maintained, along with two cigars and a box of matches for each consumer over 18 years of age.

The official explained that the reduction in the number of Criollos packs is due to the fact that on Friday night the Tabacuba Business Group recognized "the impossibility of complying with the previously agreed quantities, due to the deficit of raw materials."

The announcement is already causing deep discomfort among Havana smokers, who were surprised last Thursday by the news that they should buy Criollos, Aromas and Titanes cigars this month "exclusively" in the bodegas"upon presentation of the ration book" .

The provision, which regulates the sale in the 1,095 bodegas of the capital since this Saturday, was initially justified by the "effects on the industry" and the "transportation problems" that complicate the distribution of one of the most emblematic products of the Island .

The factory that supplies the capital is located in Holguín and as of this Saturday it stopped producing "due to difficulties with acetate, one of the crucial raw materials for finishing", and also due to the effects that "some necessary tapes" of the machinery.

If the damage to the Holguin factory spreads in the coming months, "the population will be informed in a timely manner," the director of the Provincial Trade Company, Humberto Cardoso Veliz, told the local newspaper at the time.

For several months now, Cubans have been in the dilemma of acquiring packs of cigarettes on the black market or buying them in stores in freely convertible currency (MLC). In the capital's state shops and cafes, the shortage is becoming more acute every day and huge lines form.

Added to the dilemma of not finding the desired cigarettes is the complaint of many smokers about the poor quality of the product. The flavors have changed and sometimes the cigars come with little filler or little glue, so the cork or filter separates from the rest.

[CaptainQuintero]

  Is the standard cigar ration 2 per day or per week? I assumed it was a bundle of peso cigars per week

  It seems things are going downhill fast on the island, wether it's Covid or mismanagement or both. The past 12 months seem to have been particularly bad

[Nino]

12 hours ago, CaptainQuintero said:

  Is the standard cigar ration 2 per day or per week? I assumed it was a bundle of peso cigars per week

  It seems things are going downhill fast on the island, wether it's Covid or mismanagement or both. The past 12 months seem to have been particularly bad

I would estimate 2 per week.

The downhill speed is tremendous indeed. Hope they move the brickwall away before the crash ... 

[El Presidente]

31 minutes ago, Nino said:

The downhill speed is tremendous indeed. Hope they move the brickwall away before the crash ... 

They appear to have lost control of all the levers except enforcement.  

 

 

[Nino]

3 hours ago, El Presidente said:

They appear to have lost control of all the levers except enforcement. 

 

Indeed - and the only airbag they had left ( remittances in Green ) has also been removed.

As the Spanish saying goes : Que nos coja confesados ...