A young Cuban identified as Teridimercy Silva (@ts_sinfiltros) published this week on TikTok a video titled "Mini shopping while living in Cuba" that triggered a flood of reactions for showcasing, without filters, what can be bought on the island with the available resources.
In the video, the young woman showcases the products she was able to purchase: criollo cheese for 1,500 Cuban pesos, a tube of mortadella for 800 pesos, a pack of peas for 1,000 pesos, a pack of small chorizos for 470 pesos, and eggs for 105 pesos.
The total of that "mini purchase" is around 3,875 Cuban pesos, a figure that seems modest until compared to the salary reality of the island.
The average monthly salary in Cuba is approximately 6,830 pesos according to data from the National Office of Statistics and Information at the end of November 2025, which means that this small basket of basic food items represents over 56% of the monthly income of a state worker.
The situation is even more dramatic when considering the Cuban minimum wage, which is only 2,100 pesos a month, equivalent to just over five dollars: Teridimercy's "mini shopping spree" far exceeds this income.
Independent economists estimate that the minimum cost of living per person in Cuba exceeds 50,000 pesos a month, about seven times the average salary, a gap that makes it practically impossible to survive on state income alone.
The video of the young woman is part of a growing trend among Cubans living on the island who document their everyday economic reality through social media, generating reactions of astonishment, solidarity, and outrage both among the diaspora and those who remain in Cuba.
It's not an isolated phenomenon. A Cuban woman in Santiago de Cuba spent 45,700 pesos on food for a month, which is equivalent to between six and seven average monthly salaries, in another video that also had a significant impact on social media.
The prices shown by Teridimercy are consistent with current quotes from the informal Cuban market: criollo cheese is sold for between 400 and 880 pesos per pound, mortadella between 320 and 360 pesos, and meat products such as chorizo range from 500 to 1,000 pesos per pound.
This deterioration of purchasing power occurs in a context of structural crisis: the supply booklet, in effect since 1962, has collapsed and no longer meets even the most basic needs of the population, while the Cuban peso has lost 95% of its value since 2020.
What was once a modest purchase has now become an unattainable luxury for most, and videos like those of Teridimercy serve as a social thermometer that starkly reflects the collapse of living standards in Cuba.
As a headline that circulated in April summarized: "Cuba has food, at impossible prices".
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