Many Cubans have questioned Marino Murillo, the head of the government’s economic adjustments, on social media. which showed as an achievement that 2,678 stores across the country currently accept payments in CUC.
Although the Cuban authorities initially announced that in the first six months of the monetary reform, CUC stores will continue to accept payments in that currency, with many automatically switching to Cuban pesos, while the remaining ones have an extremely high supply. of limited.
“Don’t lie, most stores don’t accept CUC and those who do only sell water pipes”, answered a user identified as Yoan Carlos to the so-called “tsar of the Cuban economy.”
“With the offers they have, I imagine it would take six years to collect CUC if that was the only way,” protested another user identified as Arian Pérez.
“Not everyone buys water, honey and rum. I know they will have a huge problem in the banks for decisions made by mediocre and inept people like you,” added a user named Claudia González.
After the start of the ordering task, in January this year, Cubans discovered how, despite government promises, most stores did not accept CUCs or services such as Servicupet and CIMEX gastronomy.
“This morning I went for a walk in Havana, the state stores do not accept CUC, they say they received” a circular “, said then Alina Menéndez with a photo of an Artex store.
Monetary unification is a major headache for Cubans, both due to rising prices and the devaluation of the national currency.
The Minister of Internal Trade, Betsy Díaz Velázquez, explained before the first complaints of the population from the state program The round table, that the stores had problems accepting the CUC.
“From a technological point of view, the Caribbean had an impact on the first environments that worked in the collection boxes, they failed to incorporate everything they anticipated. It is something that should happen in the coming days. The chains have also advanced , the process for all stores to offer services today (Monday), and at the country level it is achieved that 41% of Cimex stores and 67% of those in the Caribbean receive CUC “, he explained.
“The servicupet does not intend to receive CUC, and Cimex gastronomy does not receive and will not receive CUC. The gastronomy of Palmares, Artex, Egrem is incorporated in this sense. In other words, it is a network that is more accessible to the population and, of course, 94 % does not provide the level of satisfaction. We need to check further, “he said
The Cuban government has set up stores that will accept CUC by June 2021, the date scheduled for the end of their circulation. Approximately 784 commercial units of CIMEX and 1,014 of the Caribbean chain of stores were authorized to receive the Cuban convertible peso.