MÉRIDA, Mexico -. The exclusive gala and closing auction of the 24th Cigar Festival raised 17,800,000 Euros on Friday, which will be allocated to Cuban Public Health system, according to Cubadebate.
Cuba’s head-of-state Miguel Díaz-Canel did not miss the luxurious closing, where several exclusive humidors were auctioned, and which the official press described as a space of “confluence and exchange among friends.”
On this occasion, few images of the event have transpired, after those from previous occasions gave Cubans a glimpse of the lavish lifestyle of their leaders.
Manuel Marrero Cruz, a member of the Political Bureau and Prime Minister, also did not miss the gala, which took place at the Pabexpo fairgrounds.
At the gala, “music and dance seasoned the evening, which was not lacking in Cuban flavor and the rhythm of other latitudes,” the official press described.
The Cigar Festival of 2024 consisted of visits to tobacco plantations in Pinar del Río and to cigar factories in Havana; master lectures; an International Seminar; a Trade Fair; and the traditional auction.
The event, which started on February 26th, gathered more than 2,900 representatives from over one hundred countries.
The Cuban tobacco crisis
A recent report by AFP recalled that in recent years, Nicaraguan and Dominican cigars have gained space in the market against the Cuban cigars, or Habanos, which are restricted by US sanctions that prevent their marketing in that country, and also by a decrease in production in the context of the crisis of the Cuban economy.
“I think the best cigars in the world, right now, come from Nicaragua. As you can see, they are very popular, whether in the United States or if we sell in 92 countries around the world. People love Nicaraguan cigars,” the American businessman Rocky Patel, who also produces cigars in Honduras and the Dominican Republic, commented to AFP.
Tobacco production in Cuba has steadily declined due to measures adopted by the government starting in 2019 with the reduction of imports of fertilizers, pesticides, fuel, and other inputs, as well as the disparities in the purchase prices of the harvests compared to the costs of inputs, services, labor, and other expenses incurred by the producers as a consequence of the Economic Reorganization Task.
The accumulated non-payment to farmers for years is the fundamental cause of the rejection to carry out the large investments needed. Meanwhile, there is no hope of ever receiving the corresponding profits, a report by Miriam Leyva on CubaNet assured.
The authorities have blamed the chaotic situation on the COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters such as Hurricane Ian in September 2022, and the effects of the U.S. “blockade.” But the exodus toward other tasks, and flight abroad has left the elderly farmers without successors and few wage earners to carry out the work.
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