In the midst of the deep monetary and connectivity crisis in Cuba caused by its price increase, ETECSA launched new international recharge offers that mask an alarming reality: the state telecommunications company is valuing the dollar at less than 25 Cuban pesos (CUP), despite the fact that in the informal market it exceeds 375 CUP.
The strategy, active on platforms like Mobile Recharge, results in a fictitious currency exchange that multiplies the state's profits at the expense of emigrants and national users.
These offers, framed as a "special promotion" for Father's Day (from June 9 to June 15), provide data packages ranging from 25 to 125 GB, along with unlimited Internet access from midnight to 7:00 a.m.
But the cost of these top-ups and the value received in Cuba shows a radical economic disparity.
For example:
- A top-up of €21.45 only provides 500 CUP, resulting in an exchange rate of 23.3 CUP per euro.
- A top-up of €107.15 provides 2,500 CUP, equivalent to 23.3 CUP per euro.
- The "premium" Father's Day offer allows you to recharge 1,500 CUP for 65.99 USD, which is equivalent to 22.7 CUP per dollar.
In contrast, this Monday, June 9, the exchange rate in the Cuban informal market is:
- USD = 375 CUP
- EUR = 400 CUP
- MLC = 262.5 CUP
Thus, what ETECSA delivers represents less than 7% of the actual value of the money sent from abroad.
A gap that incites outrage
Social media has been the stage for outrage.
Users are reporting that the offer is not only financially abusive but also acts as emotional blackmail: taking advantage of a sensitive date like Father's Day to encourage emigrants to pay inflated rates, while on the island, the majority survive on salaries in Cuban pesos that do not provide real access to these services.
As a recent note from CiberCuba reports, many question the economic absurdity of these offers. An internet user compared: “In Cuba, this offer would cost about 5,000 CUP, which at the informal exchange rate would be around 12.5 USD. But ETECSA charges 22 USD abroad. Where is the profit?”
The peso, a currency with no official value
What becomes clear is that the Cuban peso no longer has a real reference value within the state system. In mid-April, the regime itself acknowledged that the average salary in Cuba is equivalent to only 16 dollars per month at the informal exchange rate.
Beyond subterfuges, the reality is that the government does not sell dollars or euros to the population through CADECA, and yet, ETECSA continues to calculate the value of international top-ups as if the official exchange rate still governed the economy.
This monetary manipulation has two clear effects: it maximizes foreign currency revenues for the Cuban state while drastically reducing the value received by users within the island.
It is, in the end, a grotesque and abusive way to extract foreign currency from the Cuban diaspora, which is no longer disguised with attractive promotions or promises of connectivity.
Outdated model and rising rejection
The executive president of ETECSA, Tania Velázquez Rodríguez, recently admitted that the average income per mobile line in Cuba fell from $133 in 2018 to just $31 in 2024.
The person in charge blamed users for "frauds" and "kidnappings" of recharges, but avoided acknowledging that the foundation of the model is flawed due to an unrealistic exchange rate, the existence of a dual economy, a lack of transparency in the accounts of the state company, and the increasing reports of corruption among its executives.
His moment of greatest sincerity occurred during the first appearance on the program Mesa Redonda, where Velázquez Rodríguez justified the price hike by stating that “there is a market outside of Cuba that wants to communicate with their family members.”
Meanwhile, on the island, the new national prices of ETECSA—implemented after the so-called "rate hike" on May 30—have also sparked backlash, especially among university students who have denounced digital exclusion and forced disconnection as a direct result of these policies.
In this context, international top-ups from ETECSA are no longer viewed as a commercial strategy, but rather as an extractive tool of institutional abuse.
The company has turned a necessity—connectivity—into an opaque business, supported by a fictitious exchange rate that disregards the reality of the country and penalizes those who need to communicate the most.
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