Business

Cuba's hard-currency supermarkets open with shelves fully stocked

Havana, Jul 20 (EFE).- For the first time in months, select supermarkets in Cuba opened Monday with their shelves fully stocked, offering a dizzying array of usually hard-to-find items. But this cornucopia is available only to people with dollars or other hard currency.The controversial initiative is aimed above all at replenishing the Cuban government's much-diminished reserves, which have taken a further battering amid the loss of tourism revenue due to Covid-19 and the intensification of the US economic embargo.Maylin, a 45-year-old housewife, stood in line for three hours to shop at the largest store in Havana's Miramar neighborhood, now designated as one of the 72 freely convertible currency (MLC) establishments across the island. (Camera: FELIPE BORREGO). SHOT LIST: SHOPPERS AT A HARD-CURRENCY SUPERMARKET IN HAVANA, CUBA.SOUND BITE: MAYLIN, A 45-YEAR-OLD HOUSEWIFE (IN SPANISH). TRANSLATION: Cheese, cleaning products, things I haven't been able to buy for this entire time of pandemic. (1:07-1:14).