Humberto López Accuses El Toque of Currency Trafficking and Tax Evasion Scheme in Cuba

The Cuban regime has launched a media offensive against the independent outlet El Toque, accusing it of being part of an alleged currency trafficking and tax evasion scheme funded by the United States.

In the latest episode of the state-run program "Razones de Cuba," hosted by regime spokesperson Humberto López, a report was presented attempting to link El Toque to what they described as a "comprehensive economic warfare program" against the island.

López claimed that the digital outlet uses "U.S. taxpayer funds" to manipulate the informal currency exchange rate and destabilize the national economy.

This accusation echoes the speech made by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez at the UN on October 29, where he alleged there is evidence of an organized and financed operation by Washington to cause the country's economic collapse.

The Role of El Toque in Informal Exchange Rates

State television described El Toque as a "subversive tool" and an "agent of financial terrorism" for its daily publication of informal exchange rates between the Cuban peso and the U.S. dollar, euro, and MLC. This indicator is crucial for millions of Cubans due to the lack of a transparent official reference.

Without providing verifiable evidence, Razones de Cuba argued that publishing the informal rate is a "speculative maneuver" intended to "depress the population's income" and create "financial panic."

Denial of a Smear Campaign

Humberto López denied that this was a smear campaign against the independent media. He reiterated this several times but emphasized at the end of his program, "What concerns El Toque is that Cubans stop seeing them as a benchmark, that we don't view them as the exchange rate. They worry about losing credibility and that we organize with a transformative project to throw them away."

This indirectly references a project announced weeks ago by Sandro Castro, an influencer and entrepreneur and the grandson of the late dictator Fidel Castro. He warned that he would gather private entrepreneurs in Cuba to launch a new exchange rate in the country, starting at 400 CUP per dollar.

State-run media echoed Humberto López's message. Granma ran the headline "El Toque Acts Against the Well-being of the Cuban People," while Cubadebate published: "El Toque: From Economic Terrorism to Currency Trafficking."

These accusations come amid the country's deep economic crisis, marked by inflation, shortages, and blackouts. Instead of taking responsibility for the internal collapse, the regime attempts to blame independent media for the ruin caused by over six decades of poor management.