The Ministry of Domestic Trade (MINCIN) celebrated this week on social media the opening of three new neighborhood markets in Ciego de Ávila, where Deputy Minister Aracelys Cardoso and the General Director of Merchandise Sales, Marpessa O. Portal de Villiers, inspected the condition of the premises and the electronic payment facilities. The response from Cubans was swift and overwhelming.
The official publication stated that the products in the approved nomenclature "should be sold between 10% and 15% below the prices of other markets in the community,” thanks to established tax incentives. However, the gap between this promise and the reality faced by Cubans triggered a flood of criticism in the comments.
"They're more expensive than street markets," wrote María E. Gutiérrez. Damarys Fernández López was more specific: "I've seen products like coffee, for example, more expensive than in the Mipymes. To me, it's the same story with a different name."
Alexander Martínez pointed to the root of the problem with specific numbers: “The idea is good, but in practice, it solves nothing. They lower the prices of products by 10 or 15 pesos, regardless of the actual cost. If a product costs 500 pesos on the street, it should cost 450 in neighborhood markets, but in reality, they sell it for 490. They pretend not to know how to calculate properly.” He also denounced that online payments “are made one day or for just a fraction of the day, symbolically and in a humanitarian manner.”
Martín Del Río captured the feelings of many with irony: "They renamed the warehouses as neighborhood markets, but they sell exactly the same things as the small and medium-sized enterprises, at the same prices, and the trade leaders in Cuba consider this an achievement. The market is in the neighborhood, of course, but the prices of products come straight from Dubai, with a stop at the shopping center. And the salary of the working class, well, that's already science fiction that barely lasts for two days."
The documented data from various points across the country supports these complaints. In the street market on Ermita Street in Havana, rice was selling for 900 pesos per kilogram, black beans for 950 pesos, and coffee (250 grams) for 2,600 pesos. In Ciego de Ávila, cooking oil was priced around 2,500 pesos, a price similar to that of other sales points in the municipality.
The situation is especially serious considering that the minimum monthly salary in Cuba is 3,210 pesos since July 2026. A list of 22 basic products in a neighborhood market in Media Luna, Granma, totaled 12,740 pesos, almost four times that salary. An 82-year-old retiree expressed it candidly: with a pension of 3,000 pesos, she could only buy a bottle of oil.
Even state media raised questions. Journalist José Miguel Solís, a correspondent for Radio Rebelde in Matanzas for 28 years, commented on Radio 26 that the prices were unaffordable and that some products were cheaper among self-employed workers. His ironic proposal was for the establishments to be called "Wealthy Neighborhood Markets".
The program, based on Resolution 16/2026 from MINCIN effective since August, allows micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, cooperatives, and self-employed workers to manage locations within the state network while the State retains ownership of the properties. It began as a pilot on July 23 in Plaza de la Revolución and expanded to include 62 establishments across 12 provinces by October 21. The government had originally promised discounts ranging from 15% to 30%, a figure that in practice was reduced to the 10%-15% announced this week in Ciego de Ávila, which, according to the Cubans themselves, is not even being met.
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