A young Cuban identified as Rey Barranco García went viral on Facebook by documenting his fourth day working as a messenger in Havana with a clear goal: to save up for an electric bicycle.
The 46-second video captures a 12-hour journey—from seven in the morning to seven in the evening—in which the young man covered distant locations in the capital, including two trips to Arroyo Naranjo and a stop at the Paradero de Playa.
"Day 4 delivering messages until I buy an electric bike, and today we're going to do 8 deliveries; we started at 7 in the morning," he says at the beginning of the clip.
In the end, he completed nine deliveries, not eight as he had planned, and barely had time to eat. "It’s already 3 in the afternoon, I’m heading to the seventh courier service. I finally managed to eat something because honestly, I was very hungry, very," he recounts in the video.
The result at the end of the day was decisive: 9,000 Cuban pesos earned in a single day.
"It's already 7 in the evening. Finally, we're heading home. I made a total of 9,000 pesos. Follow me if you want to know how much I make tomorrow," he concludes.
That figure exceeds one to two times the average state salary in Cuba, which ranges from 5,000 to 6,000 pesos per month—equivalent to about 20 dollars at the informal exchange rate—explaining, in part, why the video resonated so much among Cubans.
The goal, however, remains distant. The electric bicycles in the informal Cuban market range from 2,500 to 4,000 dollars, which is between 875,000 and 1,400,000 pesos at the current exchange rate of approximately 350 pesos per dollar.
For those who rely on a government salary, these prices are unattainable. The Caribe stores in Holguín sell new motorcycles from brands like Suzuki and Haojue for between $2,130 and $6,590, amounts that no government worker can afford with their salary in pesos.
The demand for these vehicles is directly linked to the collapse of public transportation in Cuba and the chronic fuel shortage, which have made electric motorcycles and bicycles the most viable alternative for getting around the cities.
The "daily challenge" format used by Rey Barranco García has become a trend among young Cubans who document their informal income on social media.
Similar cases include a young woman who showed how she makes money with her hair salon from the Island and a tattoo artist who went viral building his business from scratch.
The contrast with state employment is inevitable. In July 2025, the Cuban Sheyla Reyes summarized the reality of many with a phrase that also went viral: "In Cuba, working yields nothing".
The video by Rey Barranco García has accumulated over 175,000 views and more than 10,000 reactions, and his series continues: each day he shares how much he has earned, getting closer —penny by penny— to his goal of owning his own electric bicycle.
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