A fruit and vegetable stall located at the Clínico Quirúrgico stop in Santiago de Cuba went viral for selling tomatoes at 1,000 pesos per pound and onions at 1,500 pesos.
The page on Facebook Panorama Santiago shared a photograph of the establishment on Thursday, accompanied by a description full of irony regarding the owner and the new form of private management. "The owner of this Timbiriche is a !!!Genius!!!, pricing all his products higher than the very Dollar," it wrote.
However, users from different localities made it clear that these prices are not exceptional. Residents of Santiago de Cuba reported that the price of a pound of tomatoes ranges from 1,200, 1,500, 1,700, to even 2,000 pesos in various neighborhoods. Onions also reach up to 2,000 pesos in some areas.
From Havana, Las Tunas, and other locations, several users confirmed that the prices of fruits and vegetables are similar or even higher.
"And it's cheap, because I paid 1,500 for a pound of tomatoes and my husband paid 2,000, and onions for 2,000. This is crazy," commented a resident of Santiago. Another user summed up the impact of prices with a powerful statement. "FOOD TODAY IN CUBA IS A LUXURY, NOT A NECESSITY."
Dark humor also emerged among the reactions. "This year I won't eat tomatoes, I'll paint them for the end of the year and put them on the table," wrote another commenter.
Some users defended private vendors and attributed the prices to the rising costs of products and the dollar in the informal market, which they estimated at around 930 pesos. "Tomatoes came from the ground, but they have to pay the dollar at 930 pesos like everyone else," argued one commentator.
Others questioned the effectiveness of state controls and reported possible mechanisms to evade inspections. "That's how complex it is to get food in Santiago de Cuba... and what about the inspectors? But worse is that they get warned, and that day 'NOBODY SELLS ANYTHING'," wrote a resident.
"Paradoxically, in a rundown stage in the open air, a business for millionaires," summarized another user.
The complaint coincides with other recent episodes that reflect the rising cost of food on the Island. This Friday, a resident of Cienfuegos explained that he had paid 1,300 pesos for a piece of pumpkin and three sweet potatoes.
Days earlier, a Cuban resident in Panama returning to the island claimed to have spent 10,000 pesos for four export oranges. In Baracoa, a young woman showed in a video that 8,500 pesos were not enough to buy any main dish.
The Cuban minimum wage has been set at 3,210 pesos per month since July, while the average salary reached 7,354 pesos in August, according to the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI).
For his part, the economist Javier Pérez Capdevila estimated in June that a person needs around 96,000 pesos per month to cover their basic needs, a figure that amounts to approximately 30 times the minimum wage.
In August, the Government launched the so-called "neighborhood markets" with the promise of offering prices 15% to 30% lower than those of the informal market. However, consumers are questioning the prices at these establishments and have reported that they remain out of reach for a significant portion of the population.
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