Stores, cafes and restaurants in Cuba will begin to accept Russian rubles as payment

The global de-dollarization plan seems to be advancing apace in Latin America. Three Russian banks will open offices in Cuba and will bring to the island the possibility of using rubles for payment in stores and businesses on the island.

According to Boris Titov, Presidential Commissioner for the Rights of Russian Entrepreneurs, the financial entities that will open operations in Cuba They have already requested the relevant permits from the central bank (BCC).

The banks of the Eurasian country will include the implementation of projects to pay with the Russian currency “in the short term”, as Bloomberg points out. This will be with the Russian payment system MIRwhich has already arrived in Cuba a couple of months ago.

The MIR has been operational in the ATMs of the country’s banks since March 2023. This system allows cards belonging to Russian financial institutions to be accepted. This way, users can withdraw cash after converting rubles to Cuban pesos.

According to the vice president of the Russian government, Dmitri Chernyshenko, “in the very near future” it will be possible to pay in stores, cafes and restaurants in Cuba “with Russian cards”.

Cuba joins the de-dollarization

The incursion of the Russian MIR payment system in Cuba appears to be a new move in global de-dollarization which is in progress. Russia is part of that crusade, which seeks to take away space from the US currency on all possible fronts.

Cuba, where Russian influence dates back decades, was included in the anti-dollar movement. For this, from Russia they will impose the use of their national currency on Cuban soil, this time, for retail trade. This, if the plans go as expected by the Russian government.

The use of local currencies instead of the dollar It has already been seen among other countriesalbeit on a more macro level.

As reported by CriptoNoticias, China has made progress in the imposition of the yuan for foreign trade. A trend that is being followed by the BRICS countries and other multilateral organizations, who have expressed their interest in ceasing the dependency to the US dollar.