The Cuban-American singer Seidy La Niña posted a video on her social media where she shows her followers the 1,000 peso bills that are circulating in Cuba, exposing the devastation of the purchasing power of the national currency under the government of Miguel Díaz-Canel.
The clip, recorded in an informal tone in Spanish and English, shows a man counting a thick bundle of cash, while she sarcastically exclaims, "With that, you can buy a ton of things. Wow! You have money! You're a millionaire!"
Then Seidy responds, turns to the camera, and shows a bill: "For those who ask me online what Cuban money is, this is Cuban money, this is pesos."
Apparently, the man handed over 70,000 pesos, which at the current informal exchange rate this Friday—664 Cuban pesos per dollar, according to elTOQUE—amounts to approximately 105 dollars.
Seventy thousand pesos is a figure that sounds substantial in nominal terms, but it is not. In Cuba, a 25 kg bag of rice costs about 31,800 pesos in the informal market, and a carton of eggs can range from 3,000 to 4,000 pesos.
The contrast is striking when compared to official salaries. The minimum wage, effective from July 1st, is 3,210 CUP, which is less than five dollars at the informal exchange rate. The official average salary is less than 7,000 CUP, equivalent to under 11 dollars.
Independent economists estimate that meeting the basic needs of a single person requires 96,060 CUP per month, which is 14 times the official average salary.
The video was produced during Seidy's first visit to Cuba in almost seven years.
The artist arrived on the Island on July 14 in a return marked by the excitement of family reunion and the pain of her father's absence to welcome her. On Wednesday, in Guanabacoa, she had to get out of the car in the middle of the street due to the number of fans who recognized her.
The artist, who in January celebrated having earned her first million dollars and purchased an apartment with cash, returns to a country where that same amount of money would represent decades of work for the majority of Cubans.
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