Host Laritza Camacho questions ETECSA about the rate hike: "If you don't show me efficiency, how can you demand sacrifice from me?"

The Cuban broadcaster Laritza Camacho joined the many civic voices opposing the new rate hike imposed by the state-owned and sole Telecommunications Company of Cuba (ETECSA), questioning the inefficiency of the state system, the arbitrary use of resources, and the contradictions in the official discourse regarding connectivity in the country.

“If they don’t show me efficiency, how can they demand sacrifice from me?”, Camacho questioned, while denouncing the state telecommunications monopoly's inability to stop the alleged loss of 60% of profits due to scams involving international top-ups. According to the communicator, this is a “staggering” figure that has been revealed “without those responsible for not preventing the leak, for not being efficient, being held accountable.”

From his Facebook profile, Camacho critically highlighted the paradox that these "excessive" measures are implemented amid a governmental discourse that, on one hand, encourages artificial intelligence and advocates "for winning the battle of the revolution on social media."

But at the same time, it makes access to the internet more expensive, an essential tool for remote work, information, and communication in a society in crisis. “There is something that is out of place... something that is headless and even without a trunk and limbs,” he analyzed, highlighting the gap between what is said and what is done within the state apparatus.

The publication, rich in metaphors, also denounced the lack of laws that protect citizens from the unilateral decisions of a company that, despite its enormous revenue, has been marked by inefficiency, lack of control, and unjustified spending on subpar services.

It is unforgivable the large amount of resources used to provide oil phones that are paid for by the direct customers (our CUP are not much) and with the money from the true contributors... (family and friends who emigrated for political and economic reasons, and due to a stifling uncertainty about the future)”, he noted, referring to the impact of emigration on the economic support of the Cuban regime.

He also mocked the supposed spontaneous nature of the government's digital defense on social media, noting that multiple posts repeated similar phrases such as: “If I can't buy data, how do they expect me to engage on social media?”, revealing, he said, the lack of authenticity in that virtual campaign.

Camacho affirmed that, despite the obstacles, he will continue to work, defend his ideas, and contrast the truth with lies, even if “the line that connects me to the world, according to ETECSA, is an unbeatable curve intended to take us out of the game.”

Between 2005 and 2019, Cuba earned more than 21 billion dollars from communication, computing, and information services, according to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) cited by elTOQUE based on research by YucaByte. This represents an average of 1,438 million dollars per year.

However, during that same period, the Cuban government spent only $1.975 billion on communications equipment, which is less than 10% of the revenue generated.

The question that many Cubans are asking is: ¿what has ETECSA done with the millions in dollar revenue earned over the years from the export of telecommunications services?

The executive president of ETECSA, Tania Velázquez Rodríguez, admitted on national television on Saturday that the company has lost more than 60% of its revenue from abroad due to fraud related to international top-ups.

For the economist Pedro Monreal, this recognition represents "a case of monumental incompetence" both on the part of the state-owned company and the Cuban government itself, as it acknowledges that the alleged fraud operated for more than three years without any effective measures being taken to stop it.

The majority of the Cuban population has reacted with outrage to the justifications put forward by ETECSA regarding million-dollar losses, in addition to criticizing the poor state management and manipulation used to implement abusive rates.

The new tariff scheme from ETECSA has been described as abusive and discriminatory, as it establishes that through Transfermóvil, customers can only recharge 360 CUP per month. Once the package is exhausted, the customer has to rely on recharges at very high prices in CUP and in foreign currency, well beyond the reach of most citizens who receive their salaries in a heavily devalued Cuban peso in a context of rampant inflation.

Frequently asked questions about the ETECSA rate increase in Cuba