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The announcement from the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC) regarding the new floating exchange rate triggered a wave of reactions on social media, where humor, confusion, and anger set the overall tone. While the government presented the measure as a step to "strengthen the Cuban peso," comments reflect a mix of distrust and resignation towards a reform that many interpret as the official recognition of the informal market.
Starting December 18, the country operates with three currency exchange segments: one at 1x24 for essential state services, another at 1x120 for entities with foreign income, and a third "floating" segment for citizens and private management forms, with an initial rate of 410 pesos per dollar and 481.42 per euro. The figures, almost identical to those reported by the informal market, generated surprise and irony even in official circles.
In the post by the Central Bank of Cuba on Facebook, several users expressed confusion about how the measure will work. “Are there three types of dollars?” asked one of the first commenters, while another questioned: “Does this mean I can go to the bank and buy as many dollars as I want at 410?” Others focused on the differences between rates: “What happened to the MLC?”, “Why is the euro more expensive than the one at Toque?”, “And what’s the Mexican peso doing in this?”.
Some readers attempted to reason the change by comparing it to foreign experiences: “China and Russia have a similar system, but there the state allows for free production,” wrote an internet user who urged for “adapting the Cuban economy to current times.” However, most expressed skepticism: “I don’t understand anything, they say floating rate but no one can buy or sell freely,” remarked another comment. On the pages of Cubadebate, messages that aligned more closely with the official discourse defended the measure as “a necessary step to organize the market,” although even there doubts prevailed: “If there are no foreign currencies, what is the point of the rate?” questioned a reader.
In the post from CiberCuba, the tone was equally severe. “The Toque with another name, simply put,” wrote a user, referring to the independent media outlet that published informal rates for months. Several comments expressed the same idea, with similar criticisms about the resemblance between the new state system and the one the government had previously attacked. Another joked: “We already have our toque; now nobody from the outside will come to mess up our economy, we’ll do it ourselves.”
The closeness of values to the informal market fueled collective sarcasm. "So much criticism of El Toque just to end up the same," read dozens of responses. "This is the same thing with a different logo," summarized another user, while someone pointed out: "They removed the name, not the rate." Some took the opportunity to highlight inequality: "Those who exchange at 1x24 are the elite; the people, with the floating rate, will continue to go without food or see the light."
Others emphasized the lack of transparency: “Who decides who enters each segment?” asked one internet user, while another added: “The government doesn’t compete with the market, it only imitates it.” There were also messages of open frustration: “A doctor earns 13 dollars a month; with this change, the lowest salary in the history of humanity.”
Among the most widely shared reactions were those denouncing the contradiction between the official discourse and the economic reality. "They spent a month discrediting Toque only to end up the same as them," read one of the most upvoted comments. Another summarized: "The problem in Cuba is not the rate; it is the system that controls and punishes those who try to prosper."
Many of the comments agreed on one point: the confusion. Even those who welcomed the announcement did so with reservations. “I hope it works, but if prices don't go down and there's no production, the rate doesn't matter,” noted one participant on Cubadebate. “All this does is make everything more expensive,” added another on the Central Bank's page.
"Each new measure is an old lie with a different name," wrote a user. "There are no shortages of diagnoses, there's an abundance of will to change the system," expressed another. The feeling of resignation mixed with irony: "I have five dollars, I sell them at 24, I buy them at 410, and I become a millionaire… the other way around."
The new three-tier system —1x24, 1x120, and floating— is part of a redesign that the government describes as “gradual and temporary.” However, the Central Bank itself admitted that “it is not what many expected”, and official data shows that the average salary, calculated at 6,685 pesos, amounts to just 16 dollars per month at the current exchange rate. This Thursday, December 18, on the first day of the new floating rate, the informal market remains unchanged in the selling prices of the three reference currencies, with the dollar at 440 CUP and the euro at 480 CUP.
For citizens, the measure does not change the daily reality: a shortage of cash, endless queues, and unaffordable prices. “If the banks don't have money to pay salaries, where will they get money to exchange euros?” asked a user on the official post. Meanwhile, others mocked on social media: “Now we do have a floating rate… because everything floats, except for salaries.”
The reactions, taken together, reveal an exhausted country where humor remains a refuge amid uncertainty. None of the three rates seems capable of regaining the lost trust in the Cuban peso. Amid confusion and mockery, a common idea emerges in the comments: that the Central Bank has ended up becoming its own "Toque" by officializing the values of the informal market that it once criticized.
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