“this is the biggest blow that the tobacco infrastructure has suffered throughout its history"

[El Presidente]

 

 

Tobacco production in Cuba suffers “devastating blow” with Hurricane Ian

According to sector authorities, the most recent category three hurricane with winds of up to 200 kilometers per hour caused massive damage in Pinar del Río, both in tons and in the quality of a crop that contributes hundreds of millions of dollars each year from exports.

by  OnCuba Staff

 October 7, 2022

in Economy

 

 

The recent passage of Hurricane Ian through western Cuba dealt a “devastating blow” to the cultivation of the most select tobacco produced in the province of Pinar del Río, according to official media on the island.

According to preliminary reports, the territory that produces the largest amount of tobacco in the country, as well as the one with the best quality, suffered major infrastructure damage while losing thousands of tons of raw material

 

 

The hydrometeorological event that touched Cuban territory with category three and winds of up to 200 kilometers per hour caused massive damage “both in tons and in the quality of a crop that contributes hundreds of millions of dollars for exports every year,” a report by the official newspaper Granma said.

The newspaper indicated that the most significant damage was concentrated in the municipalities of San Luis and San Juan y Martínez, where most of the raw material for the manufacture of the famous cigars comes from, one of the most profitable exportable lines of the battered economy of the island.

The delegate of Agriculture in Pinar del Río, Víctor Fidel Hernández, confessed to Granma that “this is the biggest blow that the tobacco infrastructure has suffered throughout its history… Not even when hurricanes Isidore and Lili hit, in 2002, the damage reached such a dimension.”