Show Me the Money

Cuba’s new currency system is certain to confuse travelers

BY DAVID SAVONA

If you were among the millions of travelers who visited Cuba each year before the pandemic, you may have saved some of the Cuban money with which you paid for cigars, restaurant bills and just about everything on your journey to that country. Not only are they now worthless, buying things in Cuba today is far more confusing than before. Cuba used to have two currencies. Cuban citizens used regular Cuban pesos, and tourists used Cuban convertible pesos, known as CUCs. Each CUC—equal to a U.S. dollar—was worth 25 regular pesos. In January 2021, CUCs were replaced by regular Cuban pesos, known as the CUP. (CUCs could be exchanged for pesos at the time.) And the values fluctuated. Unlike dollars, pounds, euro or yen, Cuban money doesn’t trade on standard exchanges. Its…

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Cigar Aficionado (Digital) - 1 Issue, May/June 2024

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