Although the freely convertible currency is essential to survive on the island, and both the euro and the dollar are the keys that move any business or trip abroad, Cubans continue to receive their salaries in pesos. Ridiculously devalued, mistreated by the Economy Minister and subjected to the country’s inflationary gale, the peso is humble and proletarian currency, in current use.
However, not even the old bills with martyrs and slogans, or the hackneyed change of one, three and five pesos are spared from the ups and downs of the market and the general malfunction of services. A tour of 14ymedio through different banks in Havana confirmed the drama that Cubans face when withdrawing money from an ATM.
ATMs arrived late in the lives of Cubans and the first devices were only installed in the late 1990s, mainly to supply convertible pesos. Their incorporation into daily life has been a slow process, not only due to the reluctance of a population unaccustomed to the automation of certain banking tasks, but also because the instability of their service has not earned them much confidence.
Today, not even in downtown banks, such as 23rd and J, you can access an optimal withdrawal service. Not to mention more humble neighborhoods, such as Luyanó, where only three of the machines originally installed operate.
On the outskirts of Banco Metropolitano on Calle Infanta, in Centro Habana, where three ATMs had been set up, one is not working, the other “swallows” the magnetic card without returning it, and the last one, which is the only one that apparently works Normally, he’s out of cash.
“Do not insist any more, that you are not going to get any money from here. Better go home, that what this is for is to make transfers from one account to another”
An old man lost his card; another thought that by changing the denomination of his bills he would have more luck, but the cashier did not deliver anything. One man, improvising explanations, suggested to the clients to leave: “Don’t insist any more, you won’t get any money from here. You better go home, because what this is for is making transfers from one account to another.” “.
“You can see that it’s always the 26th and no one will recharge the ATM,” a client quipped, alluding to this July holiday and the slogan coined by the regime to celebrate it. “You can only check the balance”, assured other people, “it is the only operation that it allows to do”.
Many elderly people, the only ones who have the time available to “pilgrim” from ATM to ATM, must walk several kilometers between one bank and another, tired and under the sun, because they cannot pay the abusive rates of Havana taxis.
The official press has tried to offer some explanation to the clients. A week ago, a reporter from The Tribune of Havana denounced, not without a certain innocence, that “none of the six ATMs of the Metropolitan Bank of 23 and J woke up with Cuban money.” To make matters worse, one of them was out of service, despite “the automation and computerization” that has “historically” characterized the “prestigious banking system of the Island.”
According to the journalist, to avoid these “fading” of the peso, “market studies must be carried out to know the amount of currency necessary to deposit each day.” He complains that “people get tired of wasting time in queues,” which they go to at dawn or at night.
With the appearance of larger bills, the rise in average wages and inflation, the demand for large amounts of cash has multiplied
After the usual slogans, the journalist acknowledges that the bank staff could not be more irresponsible and that the queues are getting longer, due to the technical problems of the equipment and the listless treatment of the workers who must replace the cash or attend to to the public.
With the appearance of higher denomination banknotes, the rise in average wages and inflation, the demand for large amounts of cash has multiplied. Where customers used to draw three-digit numbers to shop at a farmer’s market or eat at a private restaurant, now they need a four- or five-digit amount.
The ATMs are the incessant cause of complaints due to hangups due to connection problems with “the central”, the lack of lower denomination bills, the frequent blackouts and the darkness that sometimes surrounds the place where they are located. There are even hygiene problems, with dirty keys, some stained with liquids that are thrown at them at night and others with some defective buttons that have to be pressed as if the life were in it.
However, the precariousness of ATMs is just one of the faces of the Cuban monetary odyssey. Even if he manages to extract the amount he proposed from the deposit, he will discover that the peso remains a poor currency, defenseless against foreign exchange and of little power in the expensive domestic market.
________________________
Collaborate with our work:
The team of 14ymedio is committed to doing serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time becoming a member of our journal. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
