Jittery Cubans scrambled to banks on Tuesday after unsettling news that US dollars, widely in circulation on the island since 1993, would be banned from commercial transactions in a mere 14 days.
"It is not only a macroeconomic measure," said a weary university professor. "This affects everyday household economic life for all Cubans, and that's scary. It moves the ground under everyone, because we all depend on dollars," the professor, who did not give his name, said.
Castro speaks
President Fidel Castro himself made the announcement in a speech late Monday, saying the measures were a response to "mafia-like" moves by the US government of President George W. Bush limiting money transfers to Cubans from US relatives as well as family visits to the island.
Starting Nov. 8 hotels, restaurants, car rental agencies and taxi drivers will accept only so-called convertible pesos, a local currency that can be used in specialized stores on the island but has no international value.
Cubans will still be able to hold some US dollars, but using them in commercial transactions or in retail will be banned.
Banks will soon stop conducting dollar transactions, and companies or people with dollar-denominated accounts will have to change them to convertible pesos.
The first task of many Cubans on Tuesday was getting hold of one of the two national newspapers -- Granma and Juventud Rebelde (Rebel Youth) -- that reproduced Castro's complete speech.
"Cuba recovers complete sovereignty over its currency," trumpeted Juventud Rebelde, while Granma headlined the words Castro used in his late Monday speech: "Nothing or anyone will intimidate or threaten us."
Central Bank Resolution 80/2004 left plenty of doubts and concerns.
"It's a low blow," a furious former bureaucrat who now owns a private restaurant said on condition she not be named.
Later, a bit calmer, she changed her tune. "Well, the truth is I don't know, I haven't been able to read the law."
Central Bank President Francisco Soberon announced a telephone number for citizens to call for more information, and officials announced a special radio and television broadcast edition of Round Table, a discussion panel which on Tuesday will include Bank officials discussing the measure.
The main concern here is over dollars sent by Cubans living abroad -- mainly exiles living in Florida -- that arrived as cash aboard traveler's luggage.
"What do I do now? My family sends me US$100 a month, and if I have to pay a 10 percent surcharge, I lose US$10, which for me is very important," said a housewife.
Surcharge
Cubans have until Nov. 8 to warn their foreign benefactors to "no longer send their cash gifts in dollars, but in other currency such as euros (or) Canadian dollars ... which will not have a 10 percent surcharge," Castro said.
In Washington, the US State Department said Castro's measure proves that Bush's tightening of the US embargo, in place since 1961, is succeeding.
"We think that this move is yet another indicator that Castro is refusing to do what's best for his own people. It shows that he's cynically trying to preserve a bankrupt regime at his people's expense," spokesman Adam Ereli said.
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
PERSONAL DATA: The implicated KMT members allegedly compiled their petitions by copying names from party lists without the consent of the people concerned Judicial authorities searched six locations yesterday and questioned six people, including one elderly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member and five KMT Youth League associates, about alleged signature forgery and fraud relating to their recall efforts against two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. After launching a probe into alleged signature forgery and related fraud in the KMT’s recall effort, prosecutors received a number of complaints, including about one petition that had 1,748 signatures of voters whose family members said they had already passed away, and also voters who said they did not approve the use of their name, Taipei Deputy Chief Prosecutor
RSS