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The government of Guantánamo celebrated the achievement of the provincial export plan at the close of the first half of 2026, without mentioning that the same products being sold abroad are in short supply among the Cuban population.
According to data from the Directorate of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment of the provincial government, published in an article by the state newspaper Venceremos, Guantánamo exported 1,090 tons of products—one more than the planned 1,089—generating 174 million dollars, exceeding the projected 169.6 million.
Notable among the items is charcoal, whose exports grew by up to 5% in value, described by the state media as a product of "constant pursuit of better prices in the international market."
What Venceremos omits is that the same coal, exported to Europe and Canada, is scarce in the Cuban informal market, where a bag can cost between 1,200 and 5,000 Cuban pesos —in a country where the average salary hovers around 4,000 pesos per month— while millions of families rely on it for cooking due to the collapse of the electrical system.
A similar situation occurs with coffee: Cuba does not produce the 24,000 tons per year that its internal consumption demands —production fell from over 60,000 tons in the 1950s to barely 11,500 in 2021—, but the regime prioritizes exporting the highest quality beans to obtain foreign currency.
The official article itself acknowledges at least one flaw: "bee honey, the leading product in the province's exports, is failing to meet its collection plans."
To justify the shortfall in medical service exports, the text resorts to the regime's usual argument: "the harassment of the Health System imposed by the persecution and strangulation enforced on Cuba by the U.S. administration."
Transtur, for its part, appears in the report as another success story: it fulfilled its export commitments and recorded internal sales in foreign currency at Cimex and TRD Caribe chains for 515,000 dollars.
The regime also announces the incorporation of 17 new companies into the export circuit, which would bring the total to 34 entities in the province that produce for both the domestic and international markets.
For the second half of 2026, the plan includes adding products such as tetí (marine fry), long coconut fiber, habanero chili, ginger, coconut oil, salt, hardwood, chocolate tablets, blue crab, and fruit pulps.
Provincial optimism contrasts with the national outlook: in the first half of 2025, the export plan for goods was executed at only 62%, with revenues 7% lower than the previous year, and CEPAL projected Cuba to have worse export prospects than Haiti.
The Cuban fiscal deficit for 2026 is estimated at 74.5 billion Cuban pesos, equivalent to about 3.1 billion dollars, which explains the regime's urgency to obtain foreign currency through exports, even at the expense of domestic supply.
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