Money Talks

One of the most frustrating things about Cuba is paying for things. Cuba works on an idiotic, arbitrary and unfair two currency system, meaning that some things cost CUC (Pesos Convertibles) and Pesos (Moneda Nacional) (1 CUC = 25 Moneda Nacional, 1 CUC ~ $1, and 1 Moneda Nacional = $0.04). In order to change money, we must first convert our money to Canadian Dollars or Euros (Dollars are illegal in Cuba and so carry a 20% penalty with every transaction), then trade the Canadian dollars into CUC at banks or hotels. However, because CUC is “tourist” money and Moneda Nacional is “local” money, we have to go to a different place to change our money from CUC to Moneda Nacional.

Worst of all, both currencies are referred to as pesos, so anyone who doesn’t know better may end up paying 5 CUC for something that costs 5 Moneda Nacional – 25 times what you should pay. Some more unscrupulous Cubans tend to take advantage of the confusion surrounding this ridiculous policy – the other day, a restaurant tried to charge us the “tourist” price of 6 CUC (150 moneda nacional) for fried chicken which cost 20 moneda nacional for Cubans – the staff was rather embarrassed when we confronted them about it and quickly gave us the real price. I’ve had several people come up to me in Habana Vieja and try to sell me a 3 peso Moneda Nacional coin that has the iconic picture of Che Guevara on it for 3 CUC – essentially, paying 75 Moneda Nacional for a coin worth 3.

The dual currency system makes ordinary tasks like going to the grocery store a hassle because, for example, buying rum costs Moneda Nacional but buying juice to go with it costs CUC. Of course, the good side is that certain foods are dirt cheap. During our morning breaks, we all walk to the university cafeteria and buy ice cream and juice for 1 moneda nacional and guava cookies and coconut sweets for 2 moneda nacional – 4 cents and 8 cents respectively. It has given all of us an aversion to buying anything in CUC – why would you ever pay 4 or 5 CUC for a plate of rice, beans and pork when you could pay 20 moneda – 80 cents – for the same thing? The whole system only adds to the many contradictions that make Cuba what it is today.