A Cuban woman identified as Dayami posted a video on TikTok on Tuesday in which she celebrates, with visible excitement, being able to openly purchase beef at a agricultural fair in Sancti Spíritus for 1,250 Cuban pesos per pound, without fear or persecution.
“Happy to not have to be rushing or hiding from anyone to buy our food,” says Dayami in the 47-second clip, as she shows the product for sale at the market stall.
The woman's reaction is not exaggerated: for decades, buying or selling beef obtained from an unauthorized slaughter could mean jail time in Cuba.
Since 1963, the regime prohibited the private slaughter of cattle without state permission. The Penal Code of 1979 classified it as a crime punishable by four to ten years in prison, and subsequent reforms in 1999 intensified the penalties, which could reach several years of imprisonment when combined with various offenses related to the illegal slaughter and trade of livestock.
The severe penalties imposed for decades for crimes related to the illegal slaughter and marketing of cattle turned the restrictions on beef into one of the most notorious symbols of the absurdity of the Cuban system.
In 2024, 1,615 people were sanctioned for offenses related to livestock in Cuba, with 90% of them receiving prison sentences.
The change that Dayami celebrates has legal support: the Resolution 162/2026 from the Ministry of Agriculture, published in the Official Gazette on September 9, 2026, expanded the conditions under which private owners and cooperatives can slaughter cattle for consumption or sale.
The regulation relaxed the rules for slaughtering and selling livestock and allows for the sale of meat at agricultural fairs, markets, tourist entities, and other destinations approved by municipal governments, provided that registration, animal health, minimum weight per category, and slaughter at authorized facilities are all adhered to.
The price of 1,250 pesos per pound remains high for most Cubans, whose average salary is around 6,800 pesos per month, making that cost approximately one-fifth of a worker's monthly income.
To compare, at a fair in Camagüey held in August 2026, meat was sold for 600 pesos per pound, while in Cienfuegos, steak reached a price of 1,000 pesos per pound at fairs in April, indicating significant variations between provinces.
Even so, for Dayami and many Cubans, the legal availability of the product in a public market represents a significant change compared to the restrictions that have weighed on its commercialization for decades.
"The highly prized beef that we could not eat before, here we can see it being sold at the agricultural fair," he states in the video, which has gained more than 67,000 views and 859 shares in just a few hours, reflecting the emotional weight the topic carries among Cubans both inside and outside the Island.
The clip concludes with a phrase that encapsulates decades of deprivation: "Thank God that they are now allowing us and opening doors to the world to provide a better life for our inhabitants in this country."
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