The announcement from the Central Bank of Cuba regarding the implementation of a “floating” exchange rate has once again placed elTOQUE, the independent media outlet that has long been a reference for the informal currency market on the Island, at the center of public debate.
Minutes after the televised appearance of the president of the Central Bank, elTOQUE reacted with irony and skepticism. “Eight minutes of reading and acting and as usual… we’ll have to wait until tomorrow,” the media outlet wrote in one of its first publications, summarizing that it will “temporarily” continue the multiplicity of exchange rates and the new floating rate will be published daily, along with the regulations that will govern the currency market. “We… will also see each other tomorrow,” they added.
Before the official announcement, elTOQUE had shared its Representative Rate of the Informal Currency Market by territories, with values in several provinces exceeding 440 pesos per dollar. In that context, it invited its followers to predict what they thought the official rate would be, reflecting the expectations surrounding the government decision.
Hours later, after the official information was made public, the outlet shared a meme full of irony: “After today’s attacks on the site of elTOQUE and the competition between the speeches of Donald Trump and the president of the Central Bank of Cuba tonight… Now it all makes sense. We are lost!” The tone quickly resonated with an audience used to reading between the lines of economic announcements.
The most immediate reaction came later when elTOQUE published an image with a single number at the center: “410.” Shortly before, state media confirmed that this would be the official exchange rate of the U.S. dollar for December 18, which many interpreted as an implicit validation of the values that the independent media had been reflecting for months.
On social media, the official announcement triggered a flood of comments filled with irony, confusion, and discontent. Numerous users questioned how, after weeks of official criticism of the informal market and elTOQUE, the government ended up announcing a rate "almost the same," while others wondered if it would really be possible to buy or sell foreign currency at the banks. Reactions also highlighted the contradiction between the new exchange rate and state salaries, now calculated at just a few dollars a month.
While the Central Bank insists that the floating rate aims to "recover the purchasing power of the national currency" and progress towards a future currency unification, the reaction from elTOQUE and thousands of Cubans shows that uncertainty persists.
For many, beyond the announced number, the question remains: how will this measure impact the daily life of a country where the Cuban peso continues to lose value against an increasingly dollarized economy?
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