The first Neighborhood Market inaugurated in Sagua de Tánamo, a municipality in Holguín, was presented by local authorities as a space for food and hygiene products at "affordable and economical" prices, but the price list photographed in the store sparked a wave of criticism on social media that fundamentally questions the meaning of that promise.
The AMPP Sagua Tánamo Communicator page announced the opening of the establishment at the Los Maceos store, Unit 3078, with hours from Monday to Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
The prices displayed on the store's board include frozen chicken at 900 CUP per pound, a carton of eggs at 3,500 CUP (115 CUP each), imported rice at 900 CUP per pound, oil at 2,650 CUP per bottle, ground beef at 700 CUP per pound, sausages at 1,150 CUP per pack, mortadella at 550 CUP per pound, and ham at 1,150 CUP per can.
The most compelling data comes from a simple comparison: the minimum wage in Cuba is 3,210 CUP per month since July 2026, which means that a single carton of eggs in this market costs more than the entire minimum wage for a month.
The contrast between the label "affordable" and the prices displayed did not go unnoticed among the Cubans who commented on the post.
"I have to look up the word Asequible in the dictionary... because I don’t understand anything," wrote a user. Another summed up the situation with irony: "A pound of chicken for 900 pesos? What a bargain! Affordable for everyone, bravo for this achievement of the revolution."
Reactions multiplied along those lines: "Affordable prices, for whom?", "it will be the 'Agárrate' market with outrageous prices", "you can tell the prices are great hahaha, just right for those who receive remittances", and "the same old story with the same dog".
Others pointed directly to the official language: "What they call affordable, I don’t think they know what that word means," and "what a extortionist who wrote this affordable."
The Neighborhood Markets are an initiative of the Ministry of Internal Trade (MINCIN), regulated by Resolution 16/2026 effective since August 2026, which allows micro, small, and medium enterprises (mipymes), cooperatives, and self-employed workers to manage state-owned establishments while the State retains ownership of the properties. The initial official promise was to offer products at prices 15% to 30% lower than other stores, a figure that was later reduced to between 10% and 15% in more recent communications from MINCIN.
By October 21, the MINCIN reported 62 operational establishments in 12 provinces, including Holguín. However, the pattern of criticism in Sagua de Tánamo mirrors that which has been observed in other municipalities across the country since the program began.
The official journalist José Alejandro Solís even stated that these establishments should be called "Upscale Neighborhood Markets," because their prices would be unaffordable for the local community.
On October 25, MINCIN itself acknowledged that the markets had yet to achieve noticeable reductions for the population, according to news reports.
The Cuba Capacity Building Project estimated that a person needs around 70,070 CUP per month just to cover basic food expenses, more than 21 times the minimum wage, a gap that the Neighborhood Markets, according to their own critics, do nothing to close for those who rely solely on income in Cuban pesos and do not receive remittances from abroad.
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