Black Market Thrives in Cuba

The black market is regular market forces exerting themselves against a repressive regime...

(Reuters) - Packing long cigars into a white box picturing Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, a Cuban man delicately places a thin wax-paper stamp of quality inside.

He then finishes the job with an official guarantee.

Now, no one will be the wiser that these stogies are black market cigars.

"We have to do this just so we can live," the man, who asked to remain anonymous, said in the Cuban capital. "To make a living here, you have to be constantly doing business."

In a country where the average salary is about $20 a month, many Cubans say the black market helps buyers stretch their money and sellers supplement their income.