"Before, we were sent (dollars) by Western Union, we went there, we waited in line and we received the money to then go to the store," recalls Yamile Blen, 52, smoking a cigarette in the kitchen from his house in the historic district of Havana.

Generally, it is money sent by families living abroad - mainly in the United States, where two million Cubans reside - to their relatives who remained on the island.

Yamile recounts her black series: "We had a cafeteria and we closed it" because of the pandemic.

"After the pandemic we were going to reopen, but since everything is in MLC (freely convertible currency, the equivalent of the dollar, editor's note), it's impossible".

Indeed, the products she would need to run her business are mainly sold in these stores where you pay by card, from an account fed in foreign currency.

And to find foreign currency, you have to go to the black market, where the dollar is around 100 pesos, four times the official rate.

However, a glimmer of hope has appeared in recent days: the US government has said it is studying digital payments as a possible solution that could facilitate the sending of money from the United States to Cuba.

Alongside Havana, the Central Bank has just created a civilian company, Orbit, to manage international transfers.

"Getting Away A Bit"

In November 2020, Washington had included Fincimex, a local partner of Western Union, in a blacklist from the Treasury Department, meaning that no American company can be associated with it.

Fincimex is a financial company controlled by Gaesa, a powerful conglomerate of the revolutionary armed forces.

As a result, Western Union had to close its 407 local branches.

Different experts estimate that more than two-thirds of the population depends on these transfers, which represented 6% of Cuban GDP between 2005 and 2020. In 2019, it was the second source of income for Cuba, after the export of medical services and ahead of tourism.

A man shows his wallet with dollars, in Havana on September 15, 2020 Yamil LAGE AFP / Archives

For the Cuban economist Carmelo Mesa-Lago, of the University of Pittsburgh, the creation of Orbit responds precisely to the American request to "replace the military administration of Fincimex by a civilian agency".

Citing figures from Miami-based firm Havana Consulting Group, he explains that in 2021, foreign exchange remittances reached $1.08 billion, "a very significant drop" compared to 2019: -71 %.

"Those who receive (currency) from abroad can get by a bit, because I just received money two weeks ago" and that made it possible "to buy just what is necessary, coffee, mashed potatoes and things for the family", but it is not enough to reopen the cafeteria, explains Francisco, Yamile's husband.

The "mules"

In the end, the American sanctions certainly affect the government and the military, who received a commission on transfers via Western Union, but they further weaken Cuban families, already weakened by the pandemic.

The state "has found ways to redirect its international alliances, manage the budget and regulate the economy to minimize the impact of sanctions on its priority companies and projects", says Pavel Vidal, a Cuban economist at Javeriana University. from Cali, Colombia.

Cubans wait in front of a Western Union office in Havana on November 23, 2020 Yamil LAGE AFP / Archives

Reestablishing a mechanism to allow Cubans to receive money from abroad would be "a relief to the precarious situation in which the basic Cuban finds himself, and a support for small and medium private enterprises", he adds. .

Because the 100 dollars that Yamile's brother sends him every month from Miami take several days to arrive: they go through Italy, where other relatives live, who then make a bank transfer to Cuba.

The family thus avoids the high commissions of the specialized transfer services or the "mules" who travel with the tickets in their suitcases and then distribute them on the island.

"For 135 dollars, I donate 10,000 Cuban pesos to Cuba," says a small ad on one of the many Facebook pages dedicated to this activity.

A proposal that involves a 35% commission, when Western Union took 5%.

© 2022 AFP