The manufacture of exportable cigars continues to grow in Cuba's eastern Las Tunas province, despite the lack of experience of local cigar makers in this activity.

So far this year, the Las Tunas factories have turned out some 589,000 cigars.That figure exceeds by 40 percent the amount of cigars produced in that territory by the same period last year. Such a result indicates the possibility of the province fulfilling its target for the current year with a total output of 2,500,000 cigars.Some 80 cigar makers from the Vidal Navas factory in the northern municipality of Puerto Padre are involved in the effort. In 2006, they only needed a few months of training to produce more than 2,000,000 smokes.

This Cuban province, 670 km east of Havana, did not possess much of a tradition in the cultivation of tobacco, but a decade ago it joined a nationwide effort aimed increasing production in this industry, sowing and harvesting larger amounts of tobacco each year.

In addition to the Vidal Navas factory, Las Tunas has another two cigar factories, which in 2006 made more than 15 million units for the domestic market.

The cultivation of tobacco and cigar-making have historically been among the principal industries of Cuba's economy. The country has the capacity to turn out more than 100,000,000 top-rate exportable cigars, which are recognized around the world