A big event for the Cuban capital, its annual cigar festival in Havana, has been postponed by the organisers due to the US fuel embargo which has impacted flights. Air Canada has already cancelled all its flights to the island and countries, including the UK, have warned against non-essential travel to Cuba.
Cuba is already suffering a worsening economic slump, with hyper-inflation over the past five years, and more than a million Cubans have left their country in this time.
The organising committee of the Festival del Habano announced on 14 February that this year’s cigar festival, which was due to take place over five days at the end of February, would be postponed until further notice.
It said the decision was motivated “by the complex economic situation” facing Cuba due to the “economic, commercial and financial blockade”.
“The priority of the Habano Festival is to offer its participants a comprehensive experience at the height of the relevance and prestige that this event represents internationally,” a statement from the organising committee said. “The postponement of this celebration is a measure aimed at protecting this experience.”
Cuban cigars are regarded as among the finest in the world and the annual festival attracts an estimated 1,300 people from over 60 countries each year to sample cigars from Cuba’s producers, as well as visit tobacco plantations.
UN human rights experts have described Washington’s restrictions on Cuba’s oil imports as an “extreme form of unilateral economic coercion”. Power cuts are a regular occurrence and Cuba’s infrastructure is in very poor shape.
US economic and trade embargoes on Cuba have been in place since 1960 following the Castro revolution that nationalised US energy assets.
Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state told Bloomberg that giving the people of Cuba “more freedom, not just political freedom but economic freedom,” was a “potential way forward”.
Photo by Enzo Lo Presti on Unsplash
