On the morning of May 30, 2025, the Cuban people woke up to the news of the disproportionate increase in prices for mobile phone access. The measure was implemented without prior announcement by business authorities and government officials. With these drastic modifications, the company fails to comply with point number seven of the prepaid cellular phone service contract to users, which states: “ETECSA will inform the customer, thirty (30) calendar days in advance, of any modification in the conditions of service provision.” In this way, the company violates the contractual commitment established with the consumers of the country, which constitutes a legal violation of national scope.
ETECSA went from offering a minimum possibility of Internet access at a price of 110 Cuban pesos, to quote in its most demanding option, an extra bag worth 11,760 pesos, which represents an increase of more than 10 thousand percent, equivalent to multiplying the costs about 100 times in its maximum expression. The company also reduces access to 6 gigabytes per month in the first use package; as such, it enhances the expansion of additional exchange rates starting from 3,360 Cuban pesos, equivalent to 1.6 times the minimum wage or 2.2 basic pensions of a retired person.
This new outrage aims to compress the average consumption of the population, to enhance payment in dollars through top-ups or international remittances. In the midst of such a complex scenario, crossed by daily blackouts that exceed 22 hours of electricity service in inland communities, Internet access is not only a legitimate entertainment option; it also represents an important working mechanism, access to information sources and communication channel, on an island that suffers from a sustained migratory exodus, close to two million inhabitants between 2020-2025. For these reasons, this measure also affects the economy of relatives living abroad, who face migration challenges in a global context that is increasingly hostile to those who have this status.
This latest package adds to the concert of anti-popular measures of neoliberal hue promoted by the highest leadership of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC). The Government ratifies its will to promote economic extractivism, instead of enhancing the productive capacities of the national industry, in a way that leads to the valorization of employment and its reflection in the salary of workers. The revolutionary popular way out against an impoverishing and authoritarian regime is the way to the restoration of justice and the well-being of the Cuban people.
