The Guantánamo Dairy Products Company sparked a wave of outrage when it announced on social media the sale of its Anacaona brand ice cream —chocolate flavor— exclusively in United States dollars, at the El Panchito store, which appears to be a branch of CIMEX in that city.
The announcement, written in a festive tone and omitting the product's price, was met with sarcasm and anger by hundreds of Guantanameros, who pointed out the central contradiction: a state-run company intends to sell its products in a currency that the majority of workers do not have access to.
Ideal for sharing with family, the ad stated, a brief phrase that sparked great outrage, as the price in dollars places the product out of reach for the majority of Cubans.
"I no longer know if we live in Cuba or in Miami," wrote the user Isle Perales, in the phrase that best captured the overall mood.
The most articulate criticism came from Katia Ortega Del Rio, who pointed directly to the regime's double standards: "They sell their products in USD while demanding that TCPs and Mipymes use bank transfers so that the entire population can access these products and they are within everyone's reach, but they do not require themselves to sell their products in the currency that pays the people."
Maydalis Quintana Creagh, who identified herself as a doctor, raised the question that many were asking: "And how are we, the workers, the people, doctors like me, who earn in national currency and on a card, going to buy it?"
Other comments pointed to a second practical impossibility. "In USD and also, how do you keep it frozen with which current? Just make a group with those who have solar panels and receive dollars or have businesses," wrote Ailena Laurencio Pérez, referring to the blackouts affecting the province.
Alex Pardo summarized the collective perplexity: "I still wonder who gets paid in dollars in this country, since everything is priced in dollars."
The announcement did not include the price of the ice cream in dollars, a detail that sparked dozens of unanswered questions in the comments.
"Poor children: if they don't have USD, they don't know what life and the enjoyment of a rich ice cream are," wrote Daira Favier, in one of the reactions that best captured the human dimension of a measure that, in a province on the brink of gastronomic collapse, excludes those who earn a salary from the State that is supposed to sustain the revolution.
The episode is not isolated. In May, a store opened under the slogan "100% Cubans" was selling its products exclusively in foreign currency, resulting in identical criticisms.
In April, the Turquino Vegetable Canning Company in Holguín allocated fried tomato and guava paste to dollar stores managed by TRD Caribe.
The progressive dollarization of state offerings accelerated after December 2024, when the regime institutionalized the use of cash dollars and cards in state retail.
The context in Guantánamo exacerbates the perception of mockery. The province is among the five provinces with the highest food insecurity in the country according to the organization Food Monitor Program.
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