The Cuban government's recent aggressive campaign against the independent media outlet elTOQUE has a clear motive: its daily publication of the Informal Market Representative Rate (TRMi), a crucial indicator for Cubans to gauge the true value of the peso against the dollar, euro, and MLC.
What initially served as an informational service has evolved into a form of civil resistance. The TRMi transparently reveals the full extent of the nation's economic collapse without the need for slogans or speeches.
Since November 2025, official media and Communist Party spokespersons, including TV figure Humberto López, have ramped up a media assault on elTOQUE, accusing it of "economic terrorism," "mercenarism," and "currency trafficking."
Yet, the true target isn't the figures shared by elTOQUE but what they signify: the devastation of the Cuban peso, the erosion of state salaries' purchasing power, and the widening social exclusion driven by the regime's self-imposed "partial dollarization."
The Stark Reality of Poverty
A recent study from the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH) presents alarming statistics: 89% of Cuban households live in extreme poverty.
According to surveys conducted by the NGO, seven out of ten individuals have skipped meals at some point due to financial constraints or food shortages. These stark realities starkly contradict official narratives of "heroic resistance" or "socialist equality." In practice, the nation has fragmented into a market where only those with access to dollars or remittances can afford essentials.
Partial Dollarization: A Policy of Exclusion
Economist Pedro Monreal's recent analyses suggest that the regime's strategy is deliberate: the "partial dollarization" is part of economic reforms aimed at collecting foreign currency and shifting the burden of collapse onto the citizens.
Monreal warns that each announcement of a new "exchange regime" or expansion of MLC sales further distorts the economy, heightening inequality, excluding those without access to foreign currency, and reinforcing the informal market as a sole means of survival.
The TRMi as a Threat to the Regime
For a state accustomed to controlling the narrative, the TRMi poses a dual threat: economic and political. Economically, it lays bare the failure of the regime's economic and monetary policies and the genuine need for foreign currency. Politically, it undermines the narrative of “leaving no one behind,” highlighting gaps, poverty, and injustice.
With each TRMi publication, elTOQUE exposes the shortcomings of successive "reorderings" and "distortion corrections," as well as the false promises of salary increases and stabilization. It reveals not temporary adjustments but a structural collapse of the economic model under Miguel Díaz-Canel's so-called "continuity" government.
The government’s assault is not just against the media but against the information they provide. By criminalizing the TRMi’s publication, accusing it of "mercenarism" and "economic terrorism," and threatening legal action, their goal is to erase not just data but an uncomfortable truth about the national disaster.
The Repressive Campaign Is More Than Symbolic
Since 2024, elTOQUE collaborators and former contributors have reported interrogations, psychological pressure, threats, and manipulation of statements.
Recently, state television aired a media setup portraying its director as guilty of "tax evasion" and "currency trafficking"—accusations that don’t hold up under scrutiny.
Doxxing was also employed: personal addresses, details of journalists, and collaborators were exposed, with threats of extradition or imprisonment if they returned to Cuba.
This strategy aims to instill fear, stifle dissent, isolate free journalism, and eliminate any tools for independent reflection. Yet, it also aims to silence the voice that uses data to highlight the crisis, inequality, and exclusion.
The TRMi as a Tool of Resistance and Dignity
Despite the harassment, the TRMi from elTOQUE remains a daily resource for thousands of Cubans both on the island and abroad.
For many, it has become an essential tool, allowing them to assess real prices, decide when to send remittances to family, plan purchases, or simply understand the actual value of their salary.
More than an economic indicator, the TRMi is an assertion of dignity: a way to name the crisis, make injustice visible, and expose the authoritarianism and lack of accountability of a government that rules through propaganda, repression, and imposition rather than social dialogue or transparency.
In a country where the state controls everything from food to the internet, where the national currency is practically worthless, and where basic services fail, publishing the TRMi is a daring and revealing act.
Choosing Between Truth and Censorship
The worsening crisis, expansion of "partial dollarization," and widespread impoverishment are not isolated events but the result of a systematic policy.
As Monreal notes, this is a structural crisis: a dying economic model sustained by militarism and corruption, with the costs borne by the populace.
In this context, attacking the TRMi is more than censorship; it’s an attempt to erase the evidence of disaster and convince Cubans their poverty is nonexistent, that dollarization doesn’t exclude but "energizes" the economy, providing necessary foreign currency for social policies and redistributing poverty.
But reality cannot be hidden with threats and propaganda. The TRMi persists, circulates, and is consulted. As long as Cubans want to know their salary’s worth or what they can buy with their few pesos, the dictatorship cannot silence the truth: because these numbers weren’t invented by any anti-Cuban media—they were dictated by the streets.
Understanding Cuba's Economic Struggles
What is the Informal Market Representative Rate (TRMi)?
The TRMi is a key indicator that reflects the true value of the Cuban peso against major currencies like the dollar, euro, and MLC, providing a realistic exchange rate for Cubans.
Why does the Cuban regime view the TRMi as a threat?
The TRMi is seen as a threat because it exposes the failures of the regime's economic policies and the real economic conditions faced by Cubans, challenging the government's narrative and control.
How does the partial dollarization affect Cuban society?
Partial dollarization creates a divide, benefitting those with access to foreign currency while excluding and impoverishing those reliant on the national peso, exacerbating social inequality.