A Cuban identified as Yunisleidis Hernández summarized in just over a minute the collective fear that runs through the island following the regime's decision to eliminate price caps on basic products such as chicken, oil, powdered milk, pasta, and sausages.
His video published on Facebook became a thermometer for the public mood regarding a measure that went into effect on June 20.
"They told me that the price cap was being eliminated. That now everything depends on competition, my love. But let's be honest, what competition can there be when every Cuban's pocket is empty?" Hernández asks in the video, with a mix of disbelief and exhaustion that resonated with thousands of Cubans.
The measure was formalized through the Resolution 150/2026 of the Ministry of Finance and Prices, signed by Minister Vladimir Regueiro Ale and published in the Extraordinary Official Gazette on June 20. The resolution repeals the controls established in July 2024, which had set maximum prices for six import products.
The president Miguel Díaz-Canel himself acknowledged the failure of those controls before the National Assembly on June 18: "Price caps in practice did not manage to contain inflation. Many times they led to product shortages, diversion into illegality, higher prices, and decreased tax collection."
The elimination of the caps is part of a package of 176 economic transformation measures presented by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz to the parliament on June 18 and 19, and endorsed by the Central Committee of the Communist Party on June 17 with the participation of Raúl Castro via videoconference.
But for Hernández, and for millions of Cubans, the market logic that the regime invokes sounds hollow in the face of an overwhelming reality: “We have been witnessing for years how prices rise, how the dollar skyrockets in the informal market, and how every time we go to the store or the farmers' market, the price is higher than before.”
The numbers support this perception. Year-on-year inflation in Cuba reached 15.89% in May 2026, with food and beverages rising by 19.24%.
The official average salary is only 6,930 pesos, equivalent to about 10 dollars, while economist Javier Pérez Capdevila estimates that a family needs 96,000 pesos per month just to cover basic needs. The Cuban peso has lost approximately 40% of its value in a year.
In provinces like Guantánamo, packaged oil had already reached 1,555 pesos per liter and powdered milk 1,739 pesos for 500 grams even before price caps were lifted. Economists like Pedro Monreal warned since 2024 that the controls would lead to repressed inflation and shortages, and reality has confirmed those warnings.
Now, with no limitations and salaries that barely cover a week’s worth of food, the question that Hernández raises captures the despair of an entire population: "The dollar is rising, prices are rising, and people, people feel adrift."
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