Cuba: the island’s economy is collapsing

Since Covid, the lives of Cubans have no longer been the same. In a state grocery store, basic necessities, such as flour or oil, are rarer. Even working seven days a week, feeding your family is becoming increasingly difficult. “Before, a pound of rice cost 5 Cuban pesos, now it’s 200“, says Jimmy Batista-Tejeda, bike taxi driver in Havana (Cuba).

Tourism is collapsing

How did one of the world’s last communist economies let prices soar? The collapse of tourism, the island’s main resource, is at the origin of the crisis. The sector is also weakened by a decision by Donald Trump, who placed Cuba on the list of terrorist states. French women, who have stayed in Cuba, will no longer be able to travel to the United States without a visa. This phenomenon leads customers to turn away from the island. The Cuban economy has already been under an American embargo for 60 years.