A Cuban resident in Miami identified as Mayre Pérez reported on Facebook the abusive conditions imposed by the platform Supermarket23 for sending a gas cylinder to her relatives in Cuba, where the liquefied gas supply crisis has worsened with no solution in sight.
In the video, recorded on a Sunday while he was working, Pérez explains that the 10 kg gas cylinder is advertised at 29 dollars, but the platform requires a minimum purchase of 50 dollars to process the order, which forces customers to add other products. The shipping cost is charged separately for each additional item; just sending a bottle of oil incurs an extra nine dollars, in addition to the shipping cost of the gas cylinder itself.
"It's one shameless act after another," said Perez. "The gas canister costs 29 pesos. But you can't buy the gas canister on its own. No, you have to buy something else as well."
The result, according to their calculation, is that a small cylinder ends up costing about 65 dollars: "It's meant to take our money, to squeeze us until the last drop."
Dozens of Cubans in the diaspora confirmed in the comments that they had the same experience. Rosa Diaz de la Rocha wrote: "I just sent a little canister of gas and some trivial items and I paid 68 dollars." Ruben Prieto noted that it cost him 60 dollars. A user from Europe shared a screenshot with a total to be paid of 63.66 euros, including 11.93 euros just for delivery costs.
Katia Reyes Reyes explained the mechanism: "Since you have to buy in order to reach 50, they charge you for the shipping of each product separately. They created this method to force you to buy at the expense of the people's needs."
Several commentators pointed directly to the regime as the beneficiary of the scheme. "Supermarket belongs to the government," wrote AriagnaAlain Capote. Yoel Díaz Díaz was more direct: "We are the best workers of the dictatorship." Journalistic investigations have linked Supermarket23 with the Cuban state company Alcona, part of the Flora and Fauna group of the Ministry of Agriculture.
Supermarket23 started selling liquefied gas cylinders of 10 kg for 29 dollars on May 6, with delivery initially limited to Havana and requiring the exchange of an empty cylinder in good condition. The inventory sold out within a few hours the next day, and on May 11, the platform announced that it was reorganizing its logistics to restore the service.
The dollarization of gas is occurring amid an unprecedented supply crisis. Out of 1.7 million liquefied gas customers in Cuba, more than 50% were unable to purchase during the distributions in April 2026. In Matanzas, over 109,000 households have gone without regular supply since October 2024. The state-owned CUPET indefinitely suspended distribution in Santiago de Cuba and eastern provinces in January 2026.
Resignation mingles with indignation among those who, despite the cost, find no alternative. "They know, and we know too, that as long as we have family over there, we will keep dragging out this situation. This is the never-ending story," summarized Dione Oliva in the comments.
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