Cuba: Sweating or Being Cool, the USD Makes the Difference
at the Carlos III shopping center in Havana
“The ACs are broken and the ones they’ve installed are ‘for where it’s needed,’” says a worker at Plaza del Calzado shoe store, which will soon switch to selling in dollars
By Juan Diego Rodríguez (14ymedio)
HAVANA TIMES – At El Taller, a hardware store nestled in the Carlos III shopping center, a saleswoman fans herself vigorously on Wednesday morning, trying not so much to cool off as to shoo away the stifling steam filling the shop. Nearby are two fans, one in better shape than the other, but the weak breeze they produce is barely noticeable if you move even slightly away from the counter.
One floor below, at the store Sport, employees and customers enjoy air conditioning. The difference between one place and another mirrors the divide among Cubans in countless aspects of daily life: whether it’s food, clothing, or air-conditioned spaces, in Cuba only those who pay in “fulas” (US dollars) get access to such privileges.
“This is like a pot for steaming people,” complains a customer at Casa Nueva, another store in the shopping center that has not yet undergone dollarization and therefore lacks air conditioning. Painted a bright lime green that seems to amplify the heat, the store is supplied by Italsav—the same Italian company that stocks Casalinda, at Galiano and San Rafael. Yet this sibling relationship hasn’t ensured equal conditions: one enjoys a steady 26°C (79°F) while the other remains a “revolutionary oven.”
To endure the summer days, the employee working at Casa Nueva relies on a rickety fan that “looks older than she is,” the customer quips. With its scorched plastic and missing grilles, the fan creaks loudly every time the blades turn and seems ready to give its “final gasp.”
The employees are well aware of the state’s favoritism toward dollarized stores. At Plaza del Calzado, or “the affordable shoe store” as customers call it—comparing it to pricier dollar-only shops like Sport—salespeople are eagerly awaiting the day they can escape the “sauna” the store becomes once the sun starts blazing.
“The ACs are broken and the ones they’ve put in are ‘for where it’s needed.’ Our turn will come,” a saleswoman whispers to 14ymedio, hopeful that soon their register will only take foreign currency, and the air conditioning will be magically repaired. The store has even started clearing out some of its merchandise. “They’re selling off the old and ugly stuff, and some sandals are going for as little as 4 MLC (a magnetic currency). But besides being hideous, they’re made of plastic and look uncomfortable,” criticized a woman.
The discomfort and sweat that come with summer in Cuba are part and parcel of shopping in any MLC store—or in the near-extinct peso shops—and this is true not only at Carlos III, but in any non-dollarized store in Havana. “After coming here I need a proper shower,” said a customer at Isla de Cuba, on Monte Street. “With this heat, you don’t feel like buying fabric—you feel like walking around naked,” joked another shopper at Belinda Modas on the San Rafael pedestrian boulevard.
Meanwhile, in the dollar stores, customers seem to be in better spirits—at least until it’s time to pay. “I can’t afford to buy anything, but I like standing near the door of these stores to feel the cold breeze coming out. And I’m not the only one. People gather around and you can see them sighing. God knows how long it’s been since they last felt air conditioning,” confesses Yasel, a young Havana resident who repeats this trick every time he finds a cooled store.
Compared to the lavish coolness of dollarized spaces, the government’s energy-saving appeals sound like a bad joke. “It’s not enough to ask people to endure blackouts—they also want workers in banks, hospitals, and other essential services to go without AC, even when they’re stuck in offices without windows,” Yasel argues.
They don’t seem to care about the consequences of running air conditioners all day at very low temperatures, which affects not only electricity consumption but also increases the emission of harmful gases. The same pattern plays out in hotels and tourist facilities, highlighting the government’s overriding priority: attracting hard currency above all else.
First published in Spanish by 14ymedio and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.