Matanzas Locals with Family Abroad Dream of a Dollar Store
Opened in 2023 by Cimex, Plaza Milanes and Ayllon, which sells in the magnetic MLC currency, languishes poorly stocked.
By Julio Cesar Contreras (14ymedio)
HAVANA TIMES – The debate has changed focus. Just a year and a half ago, the discussion was why the government had raised an “eyesore in MLC” [a magnetic currency) – as a well-known journalist of the official press called it- out of harmony with the historical environment and heritage of the center of Matanzas. Now, the question among residents with family abroad is when will it start charging in dollars to save them from ruin.
The business, belonging to the military corporation Cimex, was inaugurated in May 2023, and only four months later the official press listed it as part of the “vanguard in the implementation of electronic commerce within the currency trading network of the province.” The decline, however, arrived suddenly. “The last time I came, all operations were paralyzed because there was no electricity and not much to buy,” Melissa tells 14ymedio.
The young woman approached the establishment a few days ago willing to spend the phone top up made by her mother from abroad on her MLC card, but to get there she had to spend 500 pesos in transport. From the outside she could see a line of about a dozen people, which led her to believe that the offer of products was substantial.
“I thought they had something special to sell, but there’s a line because the connection for electronic payment was lost, and there’s no way to pay at the checkout counter. They say that the problem started about 20 minutes ago and is still not solved.” The butcher shop had nothing to sell, and the refrigerators looked thawed and empty.
The customers, after a short walk through the business, ended up in the Cubita Cafeteria, with offers in national currency. But there, too, a decline was evident. If until recently the menu board showed coffee, sandwiches and ice cream, this time it had on sale, for 35 pesos, only a shot of espresso with a strong taste of roasted peas.
Melissa was lucky enough to have the right amount of money on her, because there was no connection at the coffee shop and it was impossible to pay with any debit card.
“It seemed that this was what was coming, that these markets were going to be in more places with more variety,” recalls Moises, a retired neighbor of the Plaza. He saw the arrival of the MLC store as an opportunity to buy products “nearby and with better quality” and now has hope only in the dollarization of the business.
“I got credit right away on a card in MLC that my kids top up for me every month, but right now it doesn’t help much,” he says. “Although I live right here and am in a WhatsApp group where people are notified when something is available, the truth is that the offers have been declining, and meat is the product most affected.”
The position on dollarization, more than an economic issue, is political. While those who live on their wages or pensions in Cuban pesos, and a good number of those who still support the regime reject the emergence of the dollar into national life, the population that benefits from the remittances of their emigrant relatives is betting on the comfort of being able to pay with the same greenbacks they receive from Miami.
“It is true that if they do this it will be for the minority, but at least they will be making use of a part of these premises that is currently practically unused.” The desolation that is currently visible inside the complex contrasts with the assertions of the Cuban authorities that sales in MLC will be maintained.
“There are many ways to end something: you can stand in front of a microphone and announce that the stores in MLC will continue or you can kill them little by little,” reflects the retiree. In his opinion, the Plaza Milanes y Ayllon Shopping Center is doing the latter. ” There are deteriorated stores that could again provide service in dollars.”
Standing on one side or the other of that thin red line is quite an ideological statement. The most strict militants of the Communist Party see the markets in dollars as a necessary evil to collect foreign exchange, but that has a cost by increasing social differences and dependence on the United States. Others perceive the process of expanding the US currency as an opportunity to improve their lives that will also carry over to everyone, even if they do not receive remittances directly, says Moises.”
Translated by Regina Anavy for Translating Cuba.