The Cuban resident in the United States Ana María Ferras expressed her outrage on Monday after learning that a liter of oil in Cuba costs 4,000 pesos, a price higher than the current monthly minimum wage on the island.
In a video posted on his Facebook account, Ferras shares that he received a message from his mother informing him of the new price of oil, a piece of news that left her deeply distressed due to the impact it has on those who rely on a salary or a pension in Cuba.
"How far and how long? [...] it is absurd that our people have already fallen so, so [...] there are so many people who can’t even afford to buy half a liter of oil," she asserts with a shaky voice in a recording that surpassed 159,000 views and garnered over 10,000 "likes" in just a few days.
Ferras also used the video to describe the sacrifice involved in emigrating with the aim of supporting the family that remains in Cuba.
She explained that she has been living in the United States for two years without missing a single day of work, even when she has been sick, and she recalled that she left her daughter when she was four and that her son turned 15 while she remained away from both of them.
"Here, one sacrifices oneself to help the family, because many of us here do not want to be," he stated before concluding with a reflection on the country's situation.
"Poor my country. This has truly become too much, and the people of Cuba are doing nothing; they just keep enduring so many things, so many humiliations, and they continue to endure and endure, I don't know for how long, because no one is going to solve the problem if the people themselves don't resolve it," he concluded.
The increase in prices occurred after the entry into force, on June 20, of Resolution 150/2026 from the Ministry of Finance and Prices, which removed the maximum retail prices for several imported foods, including cooking oil. Until then, the official cap for a liter was 990 pesos.
Since the removal of that limit, the increase has been constant. In April, a liter of oil was around 1,500 pesos; in June, it reached 2,000; by the end of July, it was being sold for 2,500 pesos in Havana and it reached 3,000 pesos in Sancti Spíritus in less than a day.
At the beginning of August, a resident of Havana reported that the product had reached 4,000 pesos, while other users claimed that in some areas it is already being sold for up to 5,000 pesos.
Among the comments shared on social media, the one from Miyaray Driggs Robert stood out, as he summarized the impact of this inflation with a phrase that went viral. "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," he wrote.
The increase in prices is even more dramatic when compared to official incomes. Since July 1st, the minimum monthly salary in Cuba has been set at 3,210 pesos, an amount lower than the cost of just one liter of oil in many informal markets.
At the same time, economists estimate that a person needs around 96,060 pesos per month to meet their basic needs.
Inflation also impacts other essential foods. Eggs have reached 320 pesos each and up to 7,500 pesos per carton in some provinces, while a bag of powdered milk was sold for 6,500 pesos in Matanzas.
In the midst of this escalation, the municipal government of Guantánamo announced a "reference price" of 2,200 pesos for oil, although it clarified that this does not constitute a maximum price and warned of fines, confiscations, and temporary closures for those who do not comply with the regulations.
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