Mexico City, Mexico.- The Habano Festival, organized in Cuba and one of the most important commercial events for the country, closed with an auction of cigars. The event raised more than $11 million, a record amount, according to organizers.
Some 1,000 professionals and fans of premium tobacco from the island participated in the bid, according to the press agency. The Associated Press.
The lots on offer were vitolas from the H. Upman, Hoyos de Monterey, Montecristo, Romeo y Julieta, Partagás and Cohiba brands. According to the organizers, the proceeds will be donated to Cuban public health, which is currently suffering from a severe economic crisis.
The dictator Miguel Díaz-Canel and his wife Lis Cuesta were present at the gala. The president signed the humidor—the special drawers where cigars are kept—sold for a higher figure at auction.
The total amount of the bid was 11.2 million euros (11.9 million dollars).
How’s the tobacco?
Last February, tobacco producers in the province of Pinar del Río, hard hit by Hurricane Ian at the end of September 2022, they told the AFP news agency that it will take “between eight and ten years” for the tobacco production of the territory to recover, which until now harvested 65% of the leaf.
On a tour of San Luis after the impact of the hurricaneone of the meccas of Cuban tobacco along with San Juan y Martínez, the president of Grupo Tabacuba, Marino Murillo Jorge, said that there was “not even a natural cure house standing in the province.”
Although the damage to the leaf plantations was not the worst possible because the planting season had not yet begun, the tobacco houses were devastated. Several producers have reported to CubaNet that there is a severe delay with the payment of the harvests. While the state exports the cigars they produce, the peasants continue without being paid for their work.
Receive information from CubaNet on your cell phone through WhatsApp. Send us a message with the word “CUBA” on the phone +525545038831, You can also subscribe to our electronic newsletter by giving click here.
