The dollarization of mobile telephone services by the Cuban Telecommunications Company (ETECSA) has sparked a wave of backlash on the island and among Cubans in exile.
For the economist Pedro Monreal, this decision represents a new "package deal" that follows the logic of the so-called "ordering" of 2021: a measure imposed from power, justified as technical, but with severe social consequences and lacking democratic mechanisms for consultation or control.
In a series of posts on the social network X, Monreal uncovered the political and economic background of the price hike. He explained that ETECSA - a state-owned socialist company with a monopoly position in the telecommunications sector - is wielding that unchecked power to impose a price increase that “reduces family well-being,” under the promise of future improvements in services.
In their opinion, it is a policy that prioritizes immediate corporate profit, that is, the generation of higher revenue and short-term profitability, without considering the social effects of the measure.
This "immediate corporate profit" openly contradicts the official rhetoric of the Cuban economic system, which self-defines as socialist and communist. In theory, this model prioritizes the needs of the people and places collective well-being above profit.
However, in practice, measures such as the price hike reflect an authoritarian capitalist logic: a substantial increase in prices is imposed with no competition or transparency, leaving consumers unable to choose another provider or influence the decisions of the state-owned company.
Monreal noted that the price hike is not merely a technical error or an economic necessity, but a forced redistribution of income from the pockets of Cuban families to a state-run enterprise that operates as a corporate entity.
This is possible due to the monopoly power held by ETECSA: lacking competition, it can set prices without fear of losing users, even if this means excluding a large portion of the population from access to the internet and communication.
The company has justified the increase by stating that there is an external market willing to pay the new rates. This statement highlights a strategy aimed at capturing foreign currency through international top-ups, which turns ETECSA into another mechanism for extracting resources from the diaspora to the Cuban State, similar to dollar stores or the control of remittances.
Instead of guaranteeing an accessible and universal service, as would be appropriate for a socialist model, priority is given to those who have relatives outside the country who can afford the high prices.
The contradiction is evident: a socialist system is proclaimed, yet policies are implemented that punish the most vulnerable sectors while benefiting only the state apparatus and those with access to foreign currency.
In the absence of a plural parliament, independent unions, or a critical official press, decisions like this are made from the top down, without consultation or accountability, and are imposed as faits accomplis.
Monreal also emphasized that unlike the "reorganization," which was at least presented as an attempt to improve the real income of state workers, ETECSA's rate hike "unapologetically" assumes that it will impoverish families.
This reveals a concerning evolution: the regime no longer even tries to disguise its decisions as beneficial. The reduction of the standard of living becomes official policy, as demonstrated by the so-called “partial dollarization of the economy,” a decision that has officialized and seeks to normalize inequality and social exclusion in the Caribbean’s “communist paradise”.
The rate hike has been rejected by university students, artists, and social media users, who consider it an unjustifiable abuse. In a country where salaries in pesos do not even cover basic needs, paying thousands of CUP for internet access has become a luxury reserved for an elite.
Far from responding to a socialist logic, the rate hike reveals the neoliberal and authoritarian face of a model that is sustained through monopolistic control, digital exclusion, and repression of dissent.
As Monreal warned, this kind of measures is only possible in an environment of political exclusion where the population has no choice but to accept, through coercion, the constant deterioration of their well-being.
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