Cuban cigar market up in smoke amid embargo and fertilizer shortage

Say “Cuban” in a word association game and more often than not, for better or worse, the answer will be “cigars.” These thick hand-rolled cigars, made from tobacco grown on the island nation, have become something of a symbol of Cuban culture, made famous by socialist revolutionaries such as Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. But now, due to a combination of economic woes, Cuban cigar production is under threat, raising the alarm among domestic producers. 

Cuba relies heavily on its tourism, with it making up 10 percent of the country’s GDP before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) predicts Cuba’s economy to have hit an 8.5-percent nosedive in 2021 and, with fewer foreign visitors, cigar sales would naturally plummet. 

Cash inflow is now as important as ever for Cuba. Besides traversing its worst economic crisis in 30 years — which saw a return of supply shortages last seen at the fall of the Soviet Union — the socialist nation recently made some radical...