Reflection of a Cuban Expat on ETECSA's Price Hike: "Squeezing Those Inside to Make Those Outside Pay"

A Cuban woman residing in the United States has voiced her outrage over ETECSA's recent "price hike," accusing the company of squeezing Cubans on the island to extort those abroad and seize their money. Known on TikTok as Esencia Dramática, she articulates the sentiments of many of her fellow countrymen, highlighting an economic injustice that transcends mere pricing issues.

"Your relatives need more data, so you know what to do—pay from abroad," she sarcastically begins, before dissecting the official narrative with precision: "This is not a commercial strategy, it's a well-thought-out trap; it's economic repression, planned dependency, another dirty trick to keep draining those who have already left."

The real target of this price increase, she points out, is not just Cubans on the island, who are left virtually disconnected, but also those in exile who are "emotionally blackmailed to put dollars into the regime's pockets." She concludes with a phrase that has become a slogan on social media: "Once again, squeeze those inside so those outside have to pay."

Impact on Cubans Abroad and Societal Inequality

Under the new policy, while residents in Cuba are subjected to a paltry monthly cap in national currency, ETECSA offers mobile data plans exclusively in U.S. dollars. This disparity is widely seen as a form of social control and economic repression veiled as modernization.

"This is a desperate regime in need of dollars, exploiting the people's needs as bait," Esencia Dramática denounces. She urges Cubans abroad to stop sending recharges to their families. "The dictatorship itself is handing you the tools to use against it."

From exile, activists like Saily González Velázquez echo this sentiment, advocating for a complete halt to recharges as a form of civic protest. "They extort us with food combos, hotels for leisure, and now mobile data for communication. Enough is enough," she posted online.

Resistance and Calls for Action

Some individuals in Cuba have chosen to reject any recharges from abroad. "I won’t accept a single peso being sent to ETECSA in my name. I don't want recharges. I want ETECSA to starve even if I never use a cellphone again," declared lawyer Manuel Viera.

Art critic Jorge de Mello announced his forced withdrawal from social networks, unable to afford the new prices imposed by the Cuban telecommunications monopoly. "I refuse to ask my emigrated friends to pay a single dollar to an inefficient state enterprise that practices digital exploitation under the guise of lacking freedoms," he wrote.

A Deepening Divide

ETECSA's recent decision to dollarize its major mobile Internet services, while drastically limiting access in national currency, has turned Internet access in Cuba into a class privilege. With prices in CUP equating to two to four times the average monthly salary, online connectivity is reserved for those receiving remittances or with access to U.S. dollars.

"All they are doing is widening the gap within Cuban society. The new 'rich' are those with family abroad or the few with access to USD," a Havana resident lamented on social media.

Besides the financial burden, the measure carries a clear repressive component: by limiting connectivity, it also restricts access to information, digital work, education, and—most importantly—the capacity for public denunciation.

"Who is limiting communication for the island's captives and extorting family while holding a gun to their heads?" Esencia Dramática asks, reflecting the suffocating feeling many Cubans experience.

Government Silence and Growing Unrest

While ETECSA justifies the measures as necessary to "sustain the network," many Cubans recall that for years, the company collected millions from overseas recharges without investing in any real improvements. "They collected millions of dollars and invested in nothing," a resident from Pinar del Río commented.

The general sentiment is that the Cuban government has crossed a new line by turning connectivity—a basic right in the 21st century—into a tool of extortion. Although the regime aims to isolate protesting Cubans, it appears to be achieving the opposite effect: discontent is mounting, both inside and outside the country.