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NEWS
Women’s
Association Urges Use of Single Currency in Cuba
Luis Carlos Niño
8 December 2006
Global Insight Daily Analysis
The Latin American Federation of Rural Women (FLAMUR) will begin an
international campaign next week to pressure the Cuban government to
drop the mixed monetary system that currently operates on the island.
According to this organisation, the fact that four currencies—the U.S.
dollar, the euro, the convertible peso (known as the chavito), and the
Cuban peso—are circulating throughout the Caribbean country is
generating economic discrimination against its poorest citizens. Cubans,
who earn their wages in pesos, cannot access certain goods and services
on the island unless they carry dollars or euros.
According to a report by Univision, an American television network, the
organisation hopes to collect at least 10,000 signatures within Cuba,
which are necessary to push forward a constitutional reform as stated in
the 1976 Cuban constitution.Significance: If the Cuban government were
to impose restrictions on the use of other currencies in the territory
it would have a series of drastic consequences. The absence of viable
monetary policy and a sound financial system is one of the largest
limitations to adopting any type of exchange system. In addition, the
immediate impact on the tourist industry, which generates a large amount
of revenue, would be negative in the already inefficient and weak Cuban
economy. Nonetheless the claims made by this group reflect the harsh and
difficult situation that the inhabitants of the island currently face.
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