Photo of the Day ~ Street Scenes Category ~ April 12, 2009

Sony Cyber Shot DSC-R1

Havana

Cuba

Mercado Producto La Catedral(The Cathedral Produce Market)There is a dual monetary system of payment and prices in Cuba. The system for the Cubans is in peso nacional (in the vernacular ‘Cuban Peso’). The Citizens are paid in peso nacional (or peso cubano) and there are peso shops. Tourists pay for everything in peso convertibles (CUC) (informally called a chavito) and can only buy in the so-called dollar shops, sometime called the CUC stores. If Cubans have a way of earning peso convertibles they can buy items not available in the peso shops or ration stores in the dollar shops. The Cuban Convertible Peso must be used everywhere in all tourist places, restaurants, stores, and supermarkets. Nevertheless, you can use Cuban Pesos when buying vegetables and fruits in the agro-markets. One CUC is worth 24 Cuban Pesos. The CUC is pegged to U.S. dollar 1:1, but there is a 20% tax when converting dollars to CUC (.08:1), which is the currency used for tourism and for luxury items.