HAVANA – A chain of debts within the government supply system has caused a cigarette shortage in Cuba’s second-largest city, driving up the black market price of smokes, Cuban news media reported Saturday.
The shortage led “a few unscrupulous people” in Santiago to sell cigarettes for the equivalent of 95 cents a pack, nearly triple the normal price of 33 cents, according to the Communist Party youth newspaper Juventud Rebelde.
The reports follow official exhortations for Cuba’s state-run press to do more reporting on problems faced by citizens.
According to the newspaper, the government retail company in Santiago owes about $430,000 to the government’s regional cigarette wholesaler, which in turn owes $95,000 to the manufacturer, which has cut off supplies.
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