The Cuban comedian and actor Ulises Toirac published a scathing analysis on Facebook this Tuesday regarding the pricing policies of the Cuban regime, the monetary duality between the peso and the dollar, and the lack of transparency in the Island's economy.
In the extensive post circulating on social media, Toirac describes the CUP as a "parallel reality" without real value outside the state-controlled internal market: "The dollar and the CUP do not belong to the same universe. The only place it matters —they say— is on the farm, but you step into the financial market and they look at you with a puzzled face: Cuban peso? What’s that?"
The gap pointed out by Toirac is supported by the numbers: the Central Bank of Cuba set the official rate on Tuesday at 624 CUP per dollar, while the informal market was quoting it between 675 and 695 CUP in recent weeks, according to records from elTOQUE.
The comedian also dismantles what he describes as a recurring methodology of the government: allowing or enabling extreme price hikes, waiting for public backlash, and then imposing caps that, while lower than the peak, remain well above the original prices.
"I dress up as Superman and set prices lower than those of the cosmonaut in his rocket... but much higher than those at the beginning of the game," he writes, citing the case of the gas cartridge as a paradigmatic example.
In July, the regime set the price of the 10 kg gas cylinder at 350 CUP through Resolution 155/2026, a 55% increase from the previous 225 CUP.
Regarding the caps themselves, Toirac is adamant: "What they do is funnel the product to the black market and kick the prices... and inflation will savor."
That warning aligns with what President Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged in June: that the price ceilings "caused shortages." Despite this, in August, provinces like Matanzas and Villa Clara reintroduced local price ceilings, highlighting the inconsistency of official policy.
Toirac also points out the futility of controls on supplies when private actors coexist who can pass on costs: "As long as there are private entities like restaurants, for example, that need oil and can transfer the costs to the price of the dish, they will pay whatever it takes for a bottle of oil."
After the removal of national price caps on chicken, oil, and other basic goods in June, the price of chicken increased from 3,000 to over 7,000 CUP in some areas, while oil reached between 2,500 and 3,000 CUP per liter in Havana.
The conclusion of the analysis is a requirement for total auditing: "EVERYTHING MUST BE AUDITABLE. Everything must allow for investigation and analysis. And that will never be permitted."
Toirac warns that transparency is "the only way" for economic actors to "play fair," but it will never be allowed because "it would be a brutal blow to good clients of Dior and Patek Philippe."
It is not the first time that Toirac has criticized the economic management of the regime. In June, he demanded a prohibition on members of the Communist Party and military personnel participating in the new economic openings, calling for an "exclusionary clause" and transparency. In February, he pointed out that the average salary of 3,888 CUP was equivalent to less than 13 dollars at the informal exchange rate.
The post concludes with a phrase that summarizes the tone of the entire reflection: "Things one thinks about while throwing out a bit of spoiled black beans."
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