International
Cuba, crisis and dollarization: without foreign exchange there is no country
The shortage of bread and rice, liquefied gas and gasoline, basic medicines and public transport, even daily blackouts. Many symptoms of the Cuban polycrisis have their origin in a common problem: the lack of foreign exchange of a state that monopolizes vast sectors of the economy.
The Liquefied Gas Company reported on Monday that it had no balitas (cylinders) until “the next import”, just one day after a freighter with 24,000 tons of wheat docked in Havana, where the manufacture of bread had been paralyzed due to lack of flour.
For weeks the queues at the service centros (gas stations) have been perpetual and many electric generation engines remain at a stop due to a shortage of imported fuel, while large areas of the country suffer blackouts of 20 or more hours a day.
“There is a critical shortage of foreign currency in the country,” Cuban economist and doctor in Public Policies Tamarys Bahamonde told EFE.
Independent experts consulted by EFE agree to start with the collapse of national agricultural and industrial production, which has skyrocketed imports, which account for 80% of what the country consumes, according to the United Nations.
In turn, the main sources of foreign exchange income – tourism, remittances, professional missions (mainly medical), sugar, the biopharmaceutical sector and nickel – have fallen significantly.
This has generated a strong imbalance in the accounts of the State, which exercises the monopoly of foreign trade and other key sectors.
“If there is no production that you can stop importing, we will not get out of this vicious circle,” says Cuban economist Omar Everleny, professor at the University of Havana.
The financial situation is such that in the middle of last year the Government began to decide on budget execution on a regular basis, depending on the actual income of each month.
The Cuban Government underlines the weight of US sanctions and the financial effects of their inclusion in the list of countries sponsoring terrorism for this crisis. The experts, for their part, highlight the internal causes (without denying the damage of the blockade or embargo).
Cuban economist Ricardo Torres, a professor at the American University of Washington (USA), talks about structural imbalances of decades and denounces a bad allocation: “More than a problem of resources, it is a problem of use of money.”
He explains that the Government has financed in the last ten years a “massive construction of hotels” – a sector in the hands of Gaesa, the army’s business consortium – despite very low occupancy rates.
“Seeing the public numbers, I come to the conclusion that it is a country in crisis, without a doubt. But with that I can’t justify that there is not even for wheat,” he says.
The consensus among the experts consulted is that 2025 will be the same or worse than 2024, in which the economy contracted. After five years of serious crisis, Cuban domestic product (GDP) is below 2019 levels.
They do not believe that the measures announced by the Government at the end of 2024, including a deepening of the dollarization of the national economy from the State, will reverse the situation.
Not without controversy, the Government has begun to charge in currency for customs procedures and higher octane gasoline, among others, in addition to converting part of its retail stores into establishments that sell in dollars.
Bahamonde sees in these decisions a copy of those that were taken in the crisis of the 1990s, and that were then reversed.
“It’s a way to raise money. Is it a long-term measure? No, will it guarantee economic development? No, what about growth? Neither. It is purely revenue, rential,” says the economist, who speaks of “subsistence economy.”
Everleny believes that many coordinated and in-depth reforms against the crisis in Cuba would be needed, something he does not perceive after the two severe adjustment packages approved in the last 15 months.
Bahamonde advocates making foreign trade more flexible, establishing a real foreign exchange market, extending participation to the private sector in domestic trade, renouncing the model of centralized administration, and eliminating Gaesa’s control over the Cuban economy, in general, and tourism, in particular.
“All solutions are medium and long-term, but people on the street need solutions today. If drastic, quick measures are not taken,… the time horizon of the resolution is moving away,” he warns.
In Everleny’s opinion, “the state needs long-term aid, like the International Monetary Fund,” because the country has already reached the point of “break”.
However, he himself does not see this option as viable because Cuba does not belong to these international organizations and because he believes that the United States would not approve financing lines for Havana.
International
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.
During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.
“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.
“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”
Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.
On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.
International
Vatican releases special “Sede Vacante” stamps ahead of papal transition
he Vatican’s post offices and select collector shops began selling special edition stamps this week to mark the period between the death of Pope Francis and the election of his successor.
Known as “Sede Vacante” stamps, they feature an image used on official Vatican documents during the interregnum between popes — two crossed keys without the papal tiara. These stamps went on sale Monday and will remain valid for postal use only until the new pontiff appears at the window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.
Until then, they can be used to send letters, postcards, and parcels. “Once the new pope is elected, the stamps lose their postal validity, but their collectible value rises,” said Francesco Santarossa, who runs a collectors’ shop across from St. Peter’s Square.
The Vatican has issued the stamps in four denominations: €1.25, €1.30, €2.45, and €3.20. Each is inscribed with “Città del Vaticano” and “Sede Vacante MMXXV” — Latin for “Vacant See 2025.”
International
Conclave to choose pope Francis’ successor could begin in early may
The conclave, which in the coming weeks must choose the successor to Pope Francis, will strictly follow a precise protocol refined over centuries.
The 135 cardinal electors, all under the age of 80, will cast their votes four times a day — except on the first day — until one candidate secures a two-thirds majority. The result will be announced to the world through the burning of the ballots with a chemical that produces the eagerly awaited white smoke, accompanied by the traditional cry of “Habemus Papam.”
The start date for the conclave could be announced today, as the cardinals are set to hold their fifth meeting since the pope’s passing. Luxembourg Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich suggested it could begin on May 5 or 6, following the traditional nine days of mourning. According to German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the conclave could last only “a few days.”
Although the late Argentine pontiff appointed the majority of the cardinal electors, this does not necessarily ensure the selection of a like-minded successor. Francis’ leadership style differed significantly from that of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, a German theologian who was less fond of large public gatherings. It also marked a contrast with the popular Polish pope, John Paul II.
The Argentine Jesuit’s reformist papacy drew strong criticism from more conservative sectors of the Church, who are hoping for a doctrinally focused shift. His tenure was marked by efforts to combat clerical sexual abuse, elevate the role of women and laypeople, and advocate for the poor and migrants, among other causes.
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Vatican releases special “Sede Vacante” stamps ahead of papal transition
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