A Cuban from Trinidad, in the province of Sancti Spíritus, reported in a viral Facebook video the uncontrolled rise in prices she encountered while visiting an agricultural fair, with images that reflect the desperation of millions of Cubans facing relentless inflation.
"I just got back from the fair, sir, you wouldn't believe it. How can prices rise so much in just two days?" asked Yamila Emprende Onli, the author of the video published on Sunday, which garnered over 527,000 views, nearly 19,000 likes, and almost 1,800 comments in less than 48 hours.
The woman detailed the prices she found at that fair: a bag of charcoal for 3,500 Cuban pesos, local rice —“which is not of the best quality”— at 250 pesos, and a bottle of oil of 950 milliliters ranging from 1,800 to 2,000 pesos, depending on the stall.
These numbers are overwhelming compared to the average state salary, which is around 6,930 pesos per month, equivalent to about 13 dollars at the unofficial exchange rate. Just the bag of coal represents half of that monthly salary.
Coal also has a revealing paradox: Cuba exports it massively to Europe —$61.8 million in 2023, its sixth largest export sector— while millions of Cubans rely on it for cooking due to prolonged blackouts and the gas shortage, which drives up its internal price.
The video is produced in a context of rising inflation.
The official year-on-year inflation in Cuba reached 15.89% in May 2026, the highest level since May of the previous year, and the year-to-date total up to that month reached 9.16%, exceeding the 7.45% of the same period in 2025.
On Sunday, the dollar was trading at 660 Cuban pesos in the informal market, and the euro at 760, which directly affects the prices of imported products such as oil.
On June 4, a purchase of basic groceries at a Cuban fair totaled 21,060 pesos, more than three times the average monthly salary, in yet another account that illustrates the same crisis.
Yamila did not limit herself to discussing prices. "I don't know what will happen to the Cuban people when more than 90% of the population is unemployed. Everything seems like it's under curfew. There is nothing here; nothing is functioning at the moment," she stated.
Although the figure of 90% is an exaggeration, independent estimates place the real unemployment in Sancti Spíritus at around 45%, compared to the 1.2% officially reported by the regime, a figure that independent economists find implausible.
The video was published just two days after Miguel Díaz-Canel announced a package of reforms to liberalize parts of the economy, reduce subsidies, and create opportunities for foreign currency, measures that have not had any immediate impact on the markets.
"If you have a relative, take a picture of them, because it seems to me that when they come, they will say: 'no, you...,'" Yamila concluded, with a phrase that summarizes better than any statistic the accelerated deterioration of living conditions in Cuba.
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