CUBA Officials blame Bush for halt of dollar sales

The measure could have a profound effect on Cubans.
HAVANA (AP) -- Officials suddenly halted most of the dollar sales that Cubans have come to count on and warned of higher dollar prices for food and gasoline. They blamed new U.S. measures meant to undermine the island's communist government.
Scores of agitated people lined up for last-minute purchases at late-night variety stores after the official declaration was read on Cuban state television shortly before 8 p.m. Monday.
The measure could have dramatic effect on everyday life in Cuba, where hard-currency stores offer plentiful goods -- from soap to spark plugs -- that are available in scant quantities, if at all, at highly subsidized prices in Cuban pesos.
Except for food, gasoline and personal hygiene products, the announcement said, sales in dollars "are suspended until further notice." It was not clear if they would resume at some point.
It also said that dollar prices would be raised on food and gasoline -- and perhaps other products if the stores reopen. Prices in pesos, the government said, would remain stable.
Sales of goods at dollar stores "are suspended until further notice," announcers on state television announced, reading an "official notice." Crucially, food and personal hygiene products were exempted.
Blamed Bush
Cuba blamed "the brutal and cruel" measures adopted last week by President Bush to strengthen the embargo of Cuba and to hasten the end of the communist government here.
The announcement said the U.S. proposals "are directly aimed at strangling our development and reducing to a minimum the resources in hard currency that are essential for the necessities of food, medical and educational services and other essentials."
Many analysts had seen the Bush measures as a relatively modest tweak to the broad U.S. economic embargo that has been in place against Cuba since the early 1960s.
Bush said Cuban-Americans now can visit relatives on the island once every three years rather than once a year. They can spend $50 a day rather than the earlier limit of $164.
Visits and money transfers are limited to immediate family members -- excluding uncles and cousins -- and officials and Communist Party members cannot receive funds. More money would be allotted for dissidents.
Cuban officials have warned the measures could be a possible prelude to stronger U.S. attacks, possibly even an invasion.
They warned Cubans on Monday night that "days of work and sacrifice await" and said further measures could follow if the new steps are insufficient.
Erosion of reforms
A permanent closure of the dollar stores could be another step back from the liberal reforms enacted in the early 1990s to cope with the loss of aid and trade Cuba had enjoyed with the Soviet Union.
Possession of dollars was legalized in 1993 to draw dollars from growing tourism and family remittances into the state stores. The government has steadily offered more and more goods in the U.S. currency while the Cuban ration book of items available in pesos has withered.