A Havana resident identified as Ailaht Leyet sparked a social media frenzy this Sunday by sharing how her husband traveled around various places in Havana without finding any cooking oil, until a stranger on the street pointed out where it was available: the price was 4,000 pesos per liter, a figure that prompted hundreds of reactions from Cubans confirming similar or even higher prices in their areas.
Where are we headed, sir? Today I ran out of oil at home. My husband went out to buy some and couldn't find it anywhere. He met a woman on the street who was carrying one in a bag and asked her where she got it. When he arrived at the place, sir, 4 thousand pesos. What is this all about? wrote Leyet, accompanying the text with a selfie holding a bottle of refined sunflower oil from the YEYA brand.
The author summarized the situation with a mix of resignation and dark humor: "Well, what we have to do now is save more than ever. I have to laugh because what are we going to do? You know, a little bit here and there, and I think that’s a lot."
In the comments thread, several users confirmed that the price has already exceeded that threshold in their areas. Yulieski Marrero Yero and Regla González reported 5,000 pesos per liter in their respective zones, and Leyet replied: "I believe you because we can now expect anything."
Miyaray Driggs Robert put it in brutally clear terms: "What I earn in salary I have to spend on oil, and what do I eat, oil? Because I can't buy anything else. Up to 5,000, this doesn't stop."
Mongui Ramírez, one of the commentators in the thread, directly pointed to the State: "It's the State's fault for not putting a cap on all these things." And Leyet concluded with a phrase that encapsulates the collective exhaustion: "They are slowly driving us crazy. It's stress, anxiety, depression, and everything that comes with it."
The price timeline since then has been dizzying: in April, the liter was around 1,500 pesos; in June, it reached 2,000; on July 22, it hit 2,500 pesos in Havana; on July 24, it surged from 2,000 to 3,000 in Sancti Spíritus in less than 24 hours; on August 1, Odelkis Nápoles reported that there was no longer a brake; and this Sunday, Leyet's account places the ceiling at 4,000 pesos, with reports of 5,000 in some areas.
The figure is not an exaggeration: the minimum wage set in the budgeted sector is 3,210 pesos per month since July 1, 2026 —equivalent to less than five dollars at the informal exchange rate— insufficient to buy even a single liter of oil in the informal market.
The escalation has a specific regulatory trigger: the Resolution 150/2026 from the Ministry of Finance and Prices, published on June 20, 2026, which removed the price caps on imported edible oils, overturning the previous limit of 990 pesos per liter.
Economists estimate that a person needs about 96,060 pesos per month to cover their basic needs, with the majority allocated for food.
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