Related videos:
The mixed company Proxcor S.A. opened a store at the corner of Ayestarán and Desagüe, in the Cerro municipality of Havana, under the slogan "Made in Cuba 100%."
The paradox soon exploded: products manufactured on the Island are sold exclusively in dollars, the currency that the regime itself has historically labeled as that of the "imperialist enemy."
The official post from Proxcor on Facebook provoked an avalanche of furious comments from Cubans who pointed out the contradiction with indignation and sarcasm.
The images show employees posing happily next to shelves filled with Saltinas cookies, IMSA brand flours, bottles of Coca-Cola, and soft drinks.
"I mean, made in Cuba and sold to Cubans themselves on the Island in the currency of the 'enemy'? You are a disgrace... Shameless in every sense," wrote an internet user.
Another user was more direct: "It's an insult to the people."
The reactions didn't stop there. "How strange. In this revolution for and by the humble," one commentator quipped, while another pointed out: "It's horrifying that those products, made and manufactured here, are also sold in dollars, which most Cubans don't have access to."
A user accurately summarized the economic contradiction: "But at least by importing, they could justify the prices in USD; instead, these are supposedly 100% Cuban products, so they should be sold in CUP. If they want USD, they should export, not impose it on the people."
Other criticisms pointed directly to the hypocrisy of the system. "But the miserable Cubans on the ground don't earn in dollars. True, we 'worms' pay for that store because we do earn in dollars. What you criticize us for so much," wrote a user, referring to the derogatory term the regime uses against Cuban emigrants.
"In American dollars, a currency that is very much hated here... But that is also quite liked," another added with irony.
"And where is the Cuban essence of their store? One has to be really bold," claimed another internet user, to which another responded, "Disrespect towards the humble people. The same people that Fidel said this revolution would be for and by the humble. It's all a lie."
Proxcor S.A. was established in 2019 as a joint venture between the Slovak group Proxenta Cuban Investments a.s. and the Cuban state trading company CORALSA, with a production facility in Caibarién, Villa Clara, specializing in cookies, wafers, cereals, and candies. It was presented as a model for import substitution, with a 25-year contract.
The case is set against the backdrop of the gradual dollarization of Cuban commerce, which has accelerated since 2020. By May 2025, at least 85 stores in Cuba were operating exclusively in dollars, far exceeding the 7% that the government had promised as a maximum limit.
Exclusion is mathematical: the average salary in Cuba in 2025 was just 6,930 pesos per month, equivalent to between 13 and 16 dollars at the informal exchange rate, while the minimum wage remained at 2,100 pesos, about five dollars. Shopping in a dollarized store is, for the vast majority of Cuban workers, an impossibility.
The opening of this store under the slogan "100% Made in Cuba" with prices in dollars encapsulates the contradiction of the regime's economic model: national production that does not serve national consumption in local currency, while the people who finance it with their labor are excluded from their own products.
Filed under: