A young Cuban showcased on TikTok what the equivalent of a thousand US dollars converted to Cuban pesos (CUP) looks like, and the result astonished thousands of users due to the immense amount of bills she had to hold in her arms.
The video, posted by the user @yaneisycanta_98, has accumulated thousands of views. In it, the young woman appears with bundles of bills in various denominations—mainly 200, 500, and 100 pesos—while explaining that “in the informal market, they are giving you 450 Cuban pesos for one American dollar.”
"In other provinces, it is much higher, but here where I live, it is at that price. The dollar constantly goes up and down. The Government has it at a much lower value, but it never surpasses the informal market," comments the Cuban in her video, clarifying that her intention is educational and that she only seeks to show "what the currency in my country is like."
In the images, one thousand dollars is approximately equivalent to 450,000 Cuban pesos, a figure that highlights the profound devaluation of the CUP and the loss of purchasing power among the population.
The testimony of the young woman reflects the reality faced by millions of Cubans who turn to the informal market to obtain foreign currency, as the Central Bank of Cuba maintains an artificially low official exchange rate that does not correspond to the actual value of the dollar on the streets.
"Just imagine having 10,000 dollars; it would fill an entire table," the young woman adds with laughter as she holds the bundles of cash, some tied with rubber bands and bank tags.
In the comments, dozens of users reacted with astonishment at the amount of cash that represents a relatively small figure in dollars, symbolizing the economic collapse that the country is experiencing.
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