A Cuban identified as Sisi Aguilera posted a video on Facebook this Saturday in which she demonstrates a regular purchase of basic food items, describing it as "criminal" and "astronomical" in a testimony that encapsulates the desperation of millions of Cubans facing relentless food inflation.
Aguilera bought ten pounds of rice, two pounds of sugar, one pound of bell pepper, two bags of bread, a can of tomato puree, three pounds of ground beef, two tubes of seasoned ground beef, and a small package of chicken. Nothing more. And yet, the total seemed unaffordable to him.
"I'm not buying a pack of chicken, I'm not buying pork, I'm not buying anything, I'm buying picadillo, rice," the author said in the video. "These prices are crazy for me. I find this outrageous. It's too much."
The author also pointed out the direct cause of the price spiral: "As the dollar price rises, the prices of these products also increase."
That relationship is devastating for Cubans. The dollar on the informal market is currently trading at 655 Cuban pesos, while the official minimum wage is only 2,100 pesos per month—equivalent to about three or four dollars—and the average salary is around 6,930 pesos, according to the National Office of Statistics and Information.
In contrast to these incomes, prices in the informal market are astronomical. A sack of rice can cost 31,800 pesos, beans are sold at 8,000 pesos for five kilos, and the price of oil has surged from 1,150 to 1,400 pesos in just 48 hours. The pound of ground beef —the cheapest available meat— hovers around 300 pesos, while a pound of chicken is about 500 pesos.
A study by Horizonte Cubano published this week estimates that a Cuban needs 96,060 pesos per month to cover basic necessities. This means that the average salary covers less than 10% of what is needed to eat.
The crisis is not new, but it is deepening. The report "In Cuba, There is Hunger 2025," presented on May 4th, reveals that 33.9% of Cuban households reported having experienced hunger recently, 94.9% lost access to food purchases at some point during the year, and 79.4% devote 80% or more of their income to buying food.
Only 1.2% of respondents rate the variety of foods in state markets as complete, according to the same report on hunger in Cuba.
The economist Pavel Vidal estimates that the real inflation in Cuba in 2024 was close to 70%, far exceeding the 14% officially recognized by the regime.
Many Cuban families trying to survive on two or three thousand pesos a month, as noted in the video description, cannot afford even the most basic items with that money. The ration book increasingly meets fewer needs, and the informal market, effectively dollarized, has become the only real alternative for most.
Aguilera closed her video with a phrase that needs no translation: "Look at the price, look at the total."
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