Santiago, Cuba

Santiago, Cuba

In Cuba the cars, like the buildings, show the effects of years of trade restrictions.

While I found them beautiful and the buildings full of character, for the average Cuban they are simply the result of not being able to fix anything due to lack of goods and money. They have a dual monetary system – tourists pay for things in convertible pesos and using this money you can buy things in a few well stocked shops. The local peso is worth much less and the shops tend to be overstocked in things nobody wants and have empty shelves where anything useful should be.