Cubans ditch dollars
The week's news at a glance.
Havana
Cubans jammed banks this week to sell off U.S. dollars after Fidel Castro announced he was yanking the American currency out of circulation. Exiles wire Cuban relatives $800 million a year, more than the communist government raises from its main export, sugar. The dollar had been accepted for a decade in special stores offering scarce imports and in many other businesses, but Castro said that would end Nov. 8. Castro said he imposed the ban to protest the tightening of the “mafialike” U.S. embargo against Cuba. The Bush administration said the sanctions were meant to pressure Cuba to dump communism and respect human rights. Castro said Bush wanted to “asphyxiate the country.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
What should you be stockpiling for 'World War Three'?
In the Spotlight Britons advised to prepare after the EU tells its citizens to have an emergency kit just in case
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Carnivore diet: why people are eating only meat
The Explainer 'Meatfluencers' are taking social media by storm but experts warn meat-only diets have health consequences
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Scientists want to fight malaria by poisoning mosquitoes with human blood
Under the radar Drugging the bugs
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published