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The official Periódico Girón published a promotional note on Thursday about the opening of a new retail store of Copextel in Matanzas, aimed at selling household appliances in foreign currency, under the headline "Foreign Currency for Development and Competitive Prices."
The store operates within a so-called "Self-Financing Project" approved for the state company, and according to the general manager of the branch, Marta Beatriz Menéndez Rodríguez, its main objective is to raise foreign currency: "These funds will be used, among other purposes, for the purchase of parts and components for the workshop, allowing us to address the breakdown of household appliances for the population. Additionally, the profits generated will facilitate the acquisition of fuels necessary for continuing to provide services to the public, supporting hospitals, and proceeding with the installation of photovoltaic stations."
The management also justified the prices by stating that "they are not higher than the prices of similar items available in the informal market," and emphasized that the store offers a commercial warranty and accepts national electronic cards in foreign currency through a wireless payment terminal.
The post, however, triggered an avalanche of criticism in the comments, where hundreds of Cubans expressed their annoyance, disbelief, and frustration over what they see as an irreconcilable contradiction: the regime charges in dollars to a population that earns salaries in Cuban pesos.
"But how great, and since everyone in the town has foreign currency and gets paid in foreign currency, they're rushing to the store to shop, and that's called developing the economy," wrote a user with irony.
Another recalled the precedent of the stores in freely convertible currency opened in 2019: "Remember: 'Stores will open in MLC and with that money, the ones in national currency will be stocked.' Gentlemen, we have a memory, it's all so sad."
The irony of selling electric appliances in Matanzas, the province most affected by blackouts in Cuba, did not go unnoticed. "Selling appliances without electricity while the Guiteras is struggling, just to buy fuel with that currency... the tale of the good pipe," noted a commentator, referring to the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant located in that same province, which frequently experiences breakdowns.
"Appliances for sale in a country where there is no electricity and in foreign currency, which Cubans do not earn," summarized another user.
There were also those who questioned the credibility of the warranty offered. "They open a new store in Copextel currency, with panels and everything, and I've been waiting for over a month for the warranty on my panel. I don't understand anything. What a disaster of a company," reported a buyer. Another shared that he had bought a television at a Copextel store last December and had barely been able to use the device for 15 days since his purchase.
The publication of the Periódico Girón was also criticized for omitting essential information: neither the exact address, nor the phone number, nor the prices of the products are mentioned in the article, leading to dozens of comments requesting this basic information. Only one user identified the location as the San Luis boulevard, in the Pueblo Nuevo neighborhood of Matanzas.
" If prices are competitive, it competes with workers' salaries," stated a commentator, in a phrase that summarizes the widespread discontent with an opening that the regime presents as a social achievement, but which the majority of Cubans perceive as a further twist of the partial dollarization imposed since December 2025, while salaries remain in pesos.
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