The Cuban Roy Pérez, a content creator residing in London, posted a video on Facebook where he denounces how the precarious situation of the Cuban people has become the raw material for a lucrative business ecosystem that operates both inside and outside the island.
"Sir, in Cuba there is a whole business established, and it is based on nothing more and nothing less than the misery of Cuba, on the misery of that country, on everything that everyone is suffering within that country, and on the responsibility and guilt of all those who do not live in Cuba, who have to address all those calamities," Pérez states in the recording.
Pérez is a cruise director and describes how while browsing the internet, he constantly sees ads targeted at Cubans living abroad: “Buy a solar panel from me. Buy an EcoFlow. I'm selling who knows what, sir... How long will this last?”
Pérez's outrage is not due to the existence of that market, but rather because it is fueled by the Cubans themselves. "It's a huge business, an entire enterprise built on the misery of Cubans. It's outrageous!"
A market built on the scarcity and suffering of Cubans
What Roy Pérez describes is backed by concrete and documented facts. In May 2026, amidst the fuel crisis, platforms like Supermarket23 and Katapulk began selling 10 kg liquefied gas cylinders for 29 dollars, with initial delivery available only in Havana and requiring the return of an empty cylinder in good condition.
The KMCERO platform entered the same market with a price of 24 dollars, while in the informal market, the balitas were being resold for around 50 dollars.
The sale and installation of solar panels has become another emerging market during the crisis. According to a report by El País, they are "the business of the moment" in Cuba, with basic systems starting at 800 dollars.
Private companies like SunCar, along with other small and medium-sized enterprises, compete and specialize in the installation of photovoltaic solar panels and in creating energy independence solutions for homes, businesses, and industries in Cuba.
In July 2026, the Cuban-Chinese joint venture SUMAI S.A. announced the opening of a store in El Vedado to sell solar panels, food, construction materials, and appliances, all priced in dollars.
From Miami, food combos are also being sent. The entrepreneur and reggaeton artist El Micha announced in March 2025 his platform Mercadame, which distributes food packages from the United States to Cuba at prices in dollars.
Since June 2026, shipments from Miami to provinces across all of Cuba also include charcoal stoves, rechargeable batteries, portable stations, and solar plants.
This business ecosystem is built upon a structural transformation that began to take shape in 2021 with the legalization of micro, small, and medium enterprises. The regime approved more than 11,000 private companies by September 2025.
The Cuban private sector accounts for nearly 15% of GDP and controls 55% of retail trade. It operates in an environment where the State does not guarantee basic goods.
The paradox pointed out by Roy Pérez is that this model, while addressing real needs, turns the structural precariousness of the Cuban system into a sustained commercial opportunity.
"We who allow this to continue, to keep that macabre business running, whose raw material is misery, are ourselves," he expressed.
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