Sending money or food?: The dilemma of emigrants to help their families in Cuba

In the midst of the generalized crisis in Cuba, with soaring inflation rates, shortage of food and basic products, monetary instability, and low wages, emigrants find themselves at a crossroads in deciding how to help their relatives on the island: Should they send money or food?

The AFP news agency has collected several testimonies from Cubans who agree that sending food through agencies and online stores provides relief to make ends meet, and that on the other hand, sending dollars through Western Union is discouraging because the company pays in the official exchange rate of 120 pesos per dollar, when on the street the price of the US currency exceeds 300 Cuban pesos.

On the island, which ended 2023 with an inflation rate of 30% and has been increasing, the average salary is 4,800 pesos, around 40 dollars at the official exchange rate and about 13 USD on the black market. With these salaries, Cubans must face the cost of a carton of 30 eggs for 3,300 pesos (27.50 dollars at the official exchange rate), a pound of pork for 600 pesos, and a kilogram of chicken for over 2,000 pesos.

A Cuban living in Spain explained to CiberCuba that before (until 2019) he used to send only money (100 euros per month) to his relatives and with that, at least they could buy food.

But in recent years, at the request of my family because they struggle to find food even with money, I have also had to send food (basic items such as chicken, eggs, oil, sausages, etc.) and a little money. In summary, I now spend about 30-40 euros more so they can eat," he detailed.

The Cuban activist Saily González also reflected in a video on Instagram that through virtual markets and other controlled mechanisms, and in a chaotic context of inflation and shortages, the regime forces Cubans living abroad, exiles, and dissidents to pay ransom for their relatives kidnapped on the island in the form of phone credit top-ups, remittances, packages, or parcels sent through their agencies, which will fund repression within the country.

In recent years, the government has set up channels to gather foreign currency from its emigrants. Several online stores and even ticket purchases can be made from abroad.

In the last three years, over half a million Cubans have emigrated fleeing the crisis on the island, and their dollars are currently sustaining the regime's machinery.