The Cuban reggaeton artist Luis Alberto Vicet Vives, known by his stage name La Crema, has once again captured the public's attention with a video that blends humor, social critique, and music to comment on the recent implementation of a floating exchange rate by the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC).
The clip begins when La Crema learns the news while checking her phone, which leaves her feeling confused and bewildered.
"But what is this? Look over there, look over there at what they've unleashed on these people. They criticized Toque so much and now they've set the dollar at almost the same price as Toque," ... "First the dollar was at 24, then it went up to 120, and now it's a floating rate. I don't understand anything," he says.
Next, the artist presents the situation with an ironic and critical tone:
"They say that at the bank there's a new measure called the floating rate, to seek dollars and quite a lot. We're back to the old times. Where will inflation go? There's no solution with the floating rate. And the dollar rises, no one can take it. Things are very desperate," he sings.
"You sell all your dollars to the bank, but the bank doesn't sell them back to you. And if the bank sets the street price, it doubles on the street if they sell it to me. It doubles because there's a shortage of dollars, because you control all the cash. You've already opened Pandora's box; the dollar will continue to rise, it'll keep rising for hours," he adds.
At the end of the clip, La Crema concludes with a comment that summarizes the frustration of many: "My love, look at this. It says here that it's a floating rate. The ones who will float are us. Floating rate, what floating rate?"
The song arrives at a time of significant impact on social media, where the Cuban people have turned to humor to express disbelief and mockery towards the new measure.
The independent media outlet El Toque kicked off the day with a meme inspired by Star Wars, featuring the BCC as Darth Vader saying, "I am your father!" This reflects how many perceive the measure as an acceptance of the informal market that the government had tried to discredit.
Websites like El Pelotazo have added more satire, featuring memes that show Mr. Bean copying and pasting, referring to the idea that the BCC replicated rates that were already known from independent sources.
Other comments mock official spokespersons, like Humberto López, who criticized El Toque before the BCC adopted similar rates.
Humor also extends to illustrations and memes on X and Facebook: the user Ñango Leyva posted a toilet floating over the sea with the message "You now have a floating rate #CubaEstadoFallido #SOSCuba."
For its part, the Habanero Memes account shared an image of Susely Morfa with the phrase "Who is going to rely on the floating rate that the bank is going to publish?" and responds emphatically: "Nobody!"
Since December 18, Cuba operates with three exchange segments: 1x24 CUP for state services, 1x120 CUP for entities with external income, and a floating segment for the private sector and individuals, which started at 410 CUP per dollar and 481.42 CUP per euro, figures close to those of the informal market, where the dollar remains around 440 CUP.
The Central Bank assures that the rate will float according to supply and demand and will be published daily, but the lack of institutional credibility and limitations on access to foreign currency lead many to perceive it as more of a cosmetic change than an effective one.
Meanwhile, the Cuban people continue to use satire and music as a release valve in the face of economic uncertainty, demonstrating that laughter remains the strongest currency in the country.
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