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News reports also indicated that the country's government decided it needed more dollars to buy oil, so it has essentially forced Cubans to turn in their greenbacks.

Cuba has been operating an officially sanctioned dual-currency system, with the dollar and its own peso, since 1993. The U.S. State Department estimated in August that remittances from abroad - of which a hefty but unmeasured share are in dollars - may account for as much as 3 percent of Cuba's national income.

The government has banned the dollar from use in everyday transactions, though it will allow Cubans to convert dollars to pesos for a 10 percent fee. Together, these measures could amount to a massive monetary tightening, probably the last thing Cuba needs.

To Cubans, every dollar is now worth 90 percent less, give or take, of what it was before the announcement. To some, who can smuggle their dollars out of the country to buy things or give to relatives, dollars may still hold close to their full value. They may still hold dollars, but to spend their money in any official establishment, they must exchange their dollars for convertible pesos, known as chavitos. After Nov. 8, any exchanges will be subject to a 10 percent government charge.

In the dedollarization decree read Monday night by an aide as Castro sat nearby flanked by Economics Minister, Carlos Lage, and the Central Bank President, Francisco Soberon, the government lashed out at the United States, saying Cuba was 'protecting itself from external economic aggression'.

He blamed the decision on the US administration of George Bush, citing restrictions placed recently on dollar remittances to Cuban families by Cuban American relatives, and attempts to prevent international banks providing Cuba with dollars (the Cuban peso cannot be used for international trade).

This way, Fidel Castro has ended Cuba's decade-long, sweet romance with the dollar. Mr Castro, however, suggested that emigrants might like to switch to the euro, the pound, or the Swiss franc.

Cubans have become used to shopping for all but basic goods with the greenback. Now they, tourists and others on the island can longer pay for anything in dollars cash, though bank transfers will still be legal. Observers speculated that a vigorous black market currency exchange may spring up, and that the island's black market in cigars and other goods may continue in dollars.

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