What Can You Buy for $1.60 in Cuba?

A Cuban woman named Lucía Milagros recently captured the internet's attention with a brief 29-second TikTok video that went viral. In this clip, she showcased what she managed to serve up on her table with just $1.60 in Cuba.

Lucía narrates in the video that she purchased one and a half pounds of chicken for roughly 1,050 Cuban pesos. At the informal exchange rate effective that day, this amount was equivalent to $1.60, as the rate was 668 pesos per dollar.

"Today, I bought one and a half pounds of chicken for 1,050 pesos, which is about $1.60 at today's exchange rate," she explains in her video.

However, what stood out most in her tale was what accompanied the chicken, which required no additional spending. "The best part is, we didn't have to buy anything else to go with it. We simply went to our backyard and used the bananas we planted to make a delicious fufú," she shared.

Homegrown Solutions Amid Economic Hardship

Fufú de plátano, a dish made from mashed cooked bananas mixed with garlic, onions, and fat, has its roots in African cuisine and has become a staple of traditional Cuban cooking. Today, it symbolizes the creativity needed to navigate food shortages.

"This is a simple meal made with what we have at home. I thank God for providing our daily bread," concluded Lucía Milagros. Her video garnered over 54,700 views and 531 comments.

Lucía's video is part of a broader viral trend where Cubans share their food purchases on social media to highlight the real purchasing power on the island.

"A genuine purchase and a meal crafted with much ingenuity. What we grow at home is indeed a blessing," she wrote in the description of her post.