The BBC has a story on a woman who must deal in the black market in order to live in a two bedroom house. From BBC News: Maria Julia is desperate. She lives in a Havana flat that belongs to her husband’s grandparents. For the last seven years she and her husband have shared a bedroom with [...]

The government of Mexico has announced that it will begin deporting Cuban citizens attempting to enter the United States through its country. From the LA Times: In a move likely to reduce the number of Cubans reaching U.S. soil, Mexico agreed Monday to deport Cubans smuggled into the country on their way to the United States. The agreement [...]

The Los Angeles Times reports on the dual currency system of Cuba. From the LA Times: Cuba uses the dominant convertible peso known as the CUC — introduced four years ago to replace the U.S. dollar, which had been circulating for more than a decade — and the Cuban peso known as moneda nacional. Those with jobs in [...]

In 2007, the United States Coast Guard interdicted 3,197 Cuban migrants, compared to 2,293 in 2006. Source: Associated Press, “Cuba says 2 migrants drown when smuggling boat capsizes off coast,” International Herald Tribune, December 28, 2007.

According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, nearly 90 percent of all undocumented Cubans who enter the United States now come through Mexico rather then reaching the U.S. by boat. Migrants pay smugglers up to $10,000 to cross the Yucatan Channel into Mexico and then travel up to the U.S. Border. Source: Will Weissert, [...]

Source: Kevin Baxter, ” Ball players from Cuba are now flee agents,” Los Angeles Times, July 1, 2007.

Source: Warren Richey, “As Castro heals,Cuba’s people smugglers get back to business,” Christian Science Monitor, August 18, 2006,(accessed: August 23, 2006).

Every year since 2000, the United States Coast Guard has intercepted more than 1,400 people attempting to cross the Florida Straits to gain entry into the United States. Source: Warren Richey, “As Castro heals,Cuba’s people smugglers get back to business,” Christian Science Monitor, August 18, 2006,(accessed: August 23, 2006).

Due to its geographic location, South Florida is considered to be the capital of counterfeit Cuban cigars. Source: Christina Hoag, ” Stamping out counterfeit cigars” , Miami Herald, April 24, 2006.

With a change in leadership, Cubans began speculating that new president Raul Castro would end the two tiered currency system currently in place by trading the country’s convertible peso. From the Washington Post: Cubans swamped currency exchange offices Monday and early Tuesday in a brief but intense speculative frenzy fueled by rumors that new President Raúl Castro [...]