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Ricardo Alarcon is one of the top government officials in Cuba. A lifelong cigar smoker, he served as Cuba's ambassador to the United Nations for 12 years, and today he is the president of the National Assembly of the People's Power, one of the most powerful positions in the country.

Though he has domestic political responsibilities, Alarcon frequently speaks for the Cuban government in international forums. Because of his excellent English, he is often interviewed by foreign journalists. In conversation Alarcon is expansive and animated, often gesticulating to underscore a point. His hands and facial expressions communicate as much as his words.

During a recent visit to Havana, Cigar Aficionado editor and publisher Marvin R. Shanken met with Alarcon to discuss, among other things, his view of the past, present and future of the Cuban cigar. Here are some excerpts from the interview:

Marvin R. Shanken: When I interviewed President Castro in 1994 for Cigar Aficionado magazine, one of the most important points he made was that Cuban cigars represent a great, prestigious export for your country. Today, there has been dramatic growth in the export of Cuban cigars, and some people are beginning to notice an inconsistency in the quality. Nobody questions that Cuban tobacco makes the greatest cigars in the world, but there is this question of, "Can you maintain a very high level of quality as you double your production?" What are your thoughts on this?

Ricardo Alarcon: I think that the fundamental point is to guarantee the same traditional quality. At the same time, if you can improve, if you can offer more--that's fine. Let me tell you this: There is also a phenomenon--a recent one--of some people, here in Cuba, fabricating fake cigars. So that adds to the problem. I don't dispute that in some factories, while they have increased production, some lesser quality cigars may have gotten through. But it's another problem that affects us very much, and that is that some people are trading with fake cigars. That's a very serious problem for us. We should try to eliminate that--to avoid any smuggling and any illegal production. By illegal I mean presenting a cigar as an Upmann [proffers his cigar as if offering it for sale]....but this is not Upmann, or presenting as Partagas...but this is not a Partagas. We should guarantee that those trademarks are preserved strictly to reflect what they have always been. I hope they will continue to be preserved forever.

MRS: You bring up a very important point: the explosion of counterfeit cigars, particularly Cubans, and particularly brands like Cohiba, but also others. There are reports that not only are they being produced in the Dominican Republic and Honduras with the same band, same box and so forth, but also that there is a growing production in a secondary market in Cuba, using Cuban tobacco, stealing the bands and the boxes, and selling them for a fraction of the price. Some of the cigars are good, but many of the cigars are terrible. The consumer, the cigar aficionado around the world, doesn't know--or isn't able to tell--if this is the real thing or not.

RA: My advice to any smoker is to go to the well-established companies that sell--that guarantee you that they are selling--the real thing coming from the Vuelta Abajo. I lived in New York for many years. I can tell you some places in downtown Manhattan where you can buy any French perfume, quote unquote [makes quote marks with his fingers]. Of course they are fake. But they have the same packaging, the same bottle and so on. And they look like the real thing. They are not! And we are facing the same problem. We have a very special product, more ancient than our nation. It was found by the discoverers here in Cuba. We have to preserve that quality as it has always been. The focus is to fight counterfeiters, to guarantee that what we sell is the real thing and nothing less, and to advise customers to go through the proper channels to be sure. It's the same as buying French Champagne or wine.

MRS: There are now 52 La Casa del Habanos throughout the world. There's no question that if you buy your Cuban cigars there, they're legal and they're quality.

RA: And they should provide the same quality always. They guarantee that.

MRS: Even in the United States, there are a lot of people who buy, or have smuggled in, Cuban cigars and they find out later that they are counterfeit.

RA: That's a problem--that you may even be fined in New York for smoking a Cuban cigar that's not a real Cuban cigar [laughs]. That's very sad. For smoking the real thing, I would be glad to go jail. But to be smoking a fake...

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