An annual cigar festival in Cuba’s capital city of Havana, which had been due to take place over five days in late February, has been suspended until further notice due to a worsening economic crisis.
The postponement comes as the island nation’s communist-run government endures its biggest test since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Habanos S.A., the cigar fair’s organizer, said on Saturday that it had suspended the festival “with the aim of preserving the highest standards of quality, excellence and experience that characterize this international event.”
The organizing committee said it was working on setting a new date for the fair, without providing further details.
The festival has previously welcomed more than 1,000 guests from around 80 countries, with attendees participating in auctions and touring tobacco plantations.
Premium Cuban cigars are globally renowned and considered of high economic importance, serving as one of the island’s main exports and a major source of foreign currency. They are illegal in the U.S., however, due to a decades-old trade embargo.
Last year, Habanos. S.A., a state-run entity that holds a monopoly on global sales of Cuban cigars, reported record sales of $827 million in 2024, reflecting a 16% increase compared to the year prior.
Cuba is currently grappling with a severe fuel shortage amid a U.S. oil blockade.
The Trump administration has effectively cut Cuba off from Venezuelan oil since launching a military operation to seize Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3.
U.S. President Donald Trump has since called its government “an unusual and extraordinary threat” and pledged to impose tariffs on any country that supplies it with oil.
Cuba’s government, which has condemned U.S. pressure, has recently adopted measures to protect essential services and ration fuel supplies for key sectors.
Cuba’s dwindling oil supplies prompted the United Nations to warn of a possible humanitarian “collapse” earlier in the month.
“The Secretary-General is extremely concerned about the humanitarian situation in Cuba, which will worsen, and if not collapse, if its oil needs go unmet,” said UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.
Source: CNBC