State company Habanos S.A. announced the suspension of the 26th Habano Cigar Festival, scheduled for February 24–27, without setting a new date. The decision comes amid the island's worst energy crisis in decades, featuring severe fuel rationing and economic collapse. The company stated the move aims to preserve the event's quality standards.
Habanos S.A., the state entity monopolizing global commercialization of Cuba's premium cigars, announced the postponement of the Habano Cigar Festival this Saturday. The 26th edition, set for late February in Havana, was canceled without an alternative date, citing the need to uphold 'the highest standards of quality and experience'.
The island is grappling with an acute energy crisis, marked by disruptions in oil supplies mainly from Venezuela and Mexico, obsolete thermoelectric plants operating sporadically, and electricity generation failing to meet national demand. Contributing factors include the capture of Nicolás Maduro, a January 29 U.S. executive order threatening tariffs on fuel suppliers to Cuba, and chronic foreign currency shortages hindering imports of basic materials. This has prompted reductions in work hours, strict gasoline and diesel rationing, temporary hotel closures, and flight cancellations at airports due to fuel shortages.
An anonymous food service worker who participated in prior editions told 14ymedio of thwarted plans for a private party at El Morro, featuring lighthouse lighting effects mimicking a giant cigar. The source said the organizing businessman is furious, attributing the cancellation not only to fuel shortages but also to negative political fallout from the previous event. That edition, held with a gala at the National Capitol, drew widespread social media backlash for images of foreign guests in luxury settings amid prolonged blackouts, food shortages, and widespread precarity.
Employees faced a dilemma: payments in foreign currency were essential, yet there was fear of protests or confrontations while serving an elite unaffected by local hardships. The festival annually draws millionaires, global distributors, and enthusiasts; in the prior auction, a Behike Line humidor fetched €4.6 million, with seven items totaling over €16 million, reportedly earmarked for the public health system. Despite $827 million in tobacco sales for 2024, daily life in Cuba involves blackouts, food and medicine shortages, and a health system on the brink of collapse. The government blames the U.S. embargo and oil blockade, though views persist of internal mismanagement and a flawed model.
