[extropy-chat] Extropian Scorecard

Mike Lorrey mlorrey at yahoo.com
Mon Nov 8 21:24:52 UTC 2004


--- Patrick Wilken <Patrick.Wilken at Nat.Uni-Magdeburg.DE> wrote:

> 
> On 8 Nov 2004, at 20:01, BillK wrote:
> > Sounds like a really good deal to me. I just wish I had some US
> assets
> > to sell. :)
> 
> I have been very happily paying off my US credit card debt. Thanks
> GW!

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=530&ncid=530&e=9&u=/ap/20041108/ap_on_bi_ge/cuba_dollar

Dollar Not Accepted at Cuban Businesses

	 Business - AP

By VANESSA ARRINGTON, Associated Press Writer

HAVANA - After a decade as the dominant currency to buy everything from
shampoo to canned food to furniture, the U.S. dollar is no longer
accepted in Cuba as of Monday.

Cubans as well as tourists visiting the island must now use a local
currency tied to the dollar to buy goods at previously named
"dollar-only stores" selling food and personal hygiene products. The
dollar will also be rejected at restaurants, art markets, hotels and
other businesses.

Cuba's communist government announced the decision to eliminate the
dollar from circulation Oct. 25, prompting thousands of Cubans to flood
banks and exchange houses to turn in their dollars for Cuban
convertible pesos.

A 10 percent surcharge to convert the U.S. currency into pesos was also
originally to be implemented Monday, but because of the huge demand to
dispose of the U.S. bills, the Central Bank extended to Nov. 14 the
period that people could exchange without paying the surcharge.

The surcharge will not apply to other foreign currencies like the euro
or the Canadian dollar, and there will be no surcharge to buy U.S.
dollars.

Cubans and tourists in Old Havana lined up outside exchange houses and
swelled out of banks Monday to convert their dollars. People in the
street were entertained by a dachshund named Pillo Chocolate who barked
at currencies other than the convertible peso.

"Before, Pillo would reject any currency that wasn't the dollar," said
Roberto Gonzalez, the dog's trainer. "But in the last week I trained it
to accept the convertible peso. It knows it has to adapt too."

After sniffing a convertible peso, Pillo Chocolate swiped the bill with
its paw in approval.

Cubans also appear to have accepted the government measure with little
complaint.

"For me, it's the same, whether I use the dollar or the convertible
peso," said Javier Fernandez, 50, a self-employed handyman. "All I need
is the currency that will allow me to eat."

Cubans will now use the convertible peso to purchase goods they have
been buying with dollars since they were made legal tender in 1993 to
help capture hard currency after the loss of Soviet aid and trade.

Among such goods are groceries like cereal, yogurt and bottled water as
well as most toiletries. Washing machines, furniture and gasoline have
also been sold in dollars.

The Cuban convertible peso, like that of many other smaller nations,
has no value outside the country. There also exists another currency on
the island — the regular Cuban peso — but it has little value inside
the country and is used mainly to buy fruit and vegetables as well as
gain admission to concerts, museums and movie theaters.

In announcing the currency switch, President Fidel Castro (news - web
sites) said widespread use of the money of his country's No. 1 enemy —
the United States — would be halted to guarantee Cuba's economic
independence.

Castro said the move was necessary to protect the island nation from an
increasing U.S. crackdown on the flow of American currency into Cuba.

The United States has recently implemented severe limits on the amount
Cuban exiles can send relatives on the island and Federal Reserve (news
- web sites) fines imposed on international banks sending U.S. dollars
here.

Cubans can still hold the American currency. Some independent analysts
believe many with savings will continue hoarding some of their dollars
at home.

	 

"Nobody really knows how much U.S. money Cubans have, but it is
substantial," said Paolo Spadoni, a Cuba expert from the University of
Florida in Gainesville.

A report authored by Spadoni last year roughly estimated that at least
$500 million was being stored in Cuban homes, most of it money received
from relatives in the United States.

Central Bank President Francisco Soberon told the Associated Press last
week that authorities were surprised to see how many dollars Cubans
have been "saving under their mattresses."

Soberon, however, declined to provide figures on how many dollars have
been exchanged or deposited since the currency switch was announced.

=====
Mike Lorrey
Vice-Chair, 2nd District, Libertarian Party of NH
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
                                      -William Pitt (1759-1806) 
Blog: http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=Sadomikeyism


		
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