Cubans replace rice with yuca due to high prices: "How we have been demeaned."

Yuca has become the dish of the day for some Cuban families who can no longer afford rice. This Friday, Cuban Dainelys Morales posted a photo of her lunch — yuca with minced meat — on Facebook, accompanied by a question that resonated with her followers: "How much is rice in your province? I mean, if you can find it."

According to several Cubans, in Mayabeque, rice ranges between 390 and 450 Cuban pesos (CUP) per pound; in Santa Clara and Bauta, Artemisa, it is around 450 CUP; and in Havana, a one-kilogram package can cost 1,100 CUP. Cassava, on the other hand, is available for about 70 CUP per pound in provinces like Mayabeque and Santa Clara.

"450 here in Santa Clara, and 70 for a pound of cassava. A pound of ground beef, 680 or 700," wrote one user. Another, without specifying their location, summarized the situation in three words: "It's crazy, 460."

The indignation did not remain in the numbers. "How they have denigrated us. Seeing this is embarrassing. Rice used to be a staple in our homes, and now look where they have taken us," wrote another Cuban.

The regulatory trigger for this escalation has a precise date: the Decree 156/2026, signed by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz on June 29 and published in the Official Gazette on July 16, eliminated the national cap of 155 CUP per pound of rice that had been in effect since March 2025. Since then, prices have been at the mercy of the local market, and the informal market skyrocketed costs.

In August, a content creator showcased a lunch of yucca mash with eggs due to the impossibility of buying rice. In May, a Communist Party official in Manicaragua went on to celebrate "yucca bread" as a healthy alternative in light of the lack of flour, a statement that sparked widespread outrage on social media.

The minimum wage in Cuba is 3,210 CUP per month since July 2026, which at the informal exchange rate —928 CUP per dollar this Friday— amounts to just over three and a half dollars. The monthly basic basket for one person is estimated at 96,060 CUP, nearly thirty minimum wages, of which about 70,070 CUP is allocated solely for food, according to economist Javier Capdevila.