A Cuban woman identified as Sisi Aguilera showed in a video posted on Facebook how much a small bag of chicken thighs costs today in Cuba: 2,500 pesos for just seven pieces.
"In my house, there are two of us, so maybe it will be enough for about three meals," the woman said in the video.
Aguilera explained that she ran out to buy the small package as soon as she was informed that it was available, because the large packages are already unaffordable for most Cubans. "The large ones can't be bought anymore," she lamented.
The shopping journey documented reflects the dramatic rise in food prices on the island: potatoes at 190 pesos per pound, a pineapple at 450 pesos, a bunch of ripe plantains between 300 and 350 pesos, and a few onions—which, as he said, “barely make a pound”—for 150 pesos.
"We can't even buy fruit anymore," he summarized with frustration.
The Cuban also calculated what that expense represents for an average family. If a package of seven thighs is enough for barely three meals for two people, a family would need to buy it several times a week. This would mean spending more than 25,000 pesos a month just on chicken, almost four times the average state salary.
According to figures from the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) published in April 2026, the average salary in Cuba amounts to 6,930 pesos per month, equivalent to about 13 dollars at the informal exchange rate. In practice, a bag of seven thighs consumes more than a third of the monthly salary of an average worker.
Sisi Aguilera's testimony reflects a food crisis that continues to worsen in Cuba. The Food Monitor Program warned in April 2026 that 96.91% of the population did not have adequate access to food due to inflation and the collapse of purchasing power.
Similar cases are repeating across the island. A Cuban woman in Santiago de Cuba revealed that she spent 45,700 pesos in just one month on food, which is equivalent to more than six average salaries. Meanwhile, in Ciego de Ávila, half a kilo of powdered milk was sold for 2,333 pesos, nearly a third of the average monthly salary.
In recent weeks, images of people searching for food in the trash have also increased in cities like Havana and Santiago de Cuba, including elderly individuals and children. The UN is trying to assist two million Cubans through a humanitarian plan that, as of May 2026, had received less than one-third of the necessary funding.
Sisi Aguilera concluded her video with a reflection that encapsulates the reality of millions of Cuban families:
"The sad reality is that Cuban food is becoming more basic every day. We are eating quite poorly because prices keep rising, and Cubans, with their salaries and what they manage day by day, cannot stock their kitchens with what is necessary to properly feed their families."
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