Ulises Toirac Mocks Cuban Government's New Currency Rate with CIA Joke

Cuban comedian Ulises Toirac took to social media on Thursday to satirize the Central Bank of Cuba's (BCC) newly introduced "floating" exchange rate. He humorously compared these official figures with those of the independent outlet elToque, which the regime had previously accused of manipulating the informal currency market.

In a Facebook post, Toirac quipped, "It's going to be funny watching the Central Bank of Cuba consult elToque daily for publishing the exchange rate of the day (give or take a few pesos, of course, so they don't say anything)... Who's really working for the CIA here?" His comment was accompanied by two screenshots taken "exactly at the same minute, with seconds apart," as he clarified.

The images depicted a striking similarity between both sources: the euro at 480 CUP and the dollar at 440 CUP on elToque's chart, compared to the BCC's figures of 481.42 and 410 CUP.

Toirac's post, which garnered thousands of reactions and hundreds of comments, sparked a wave of mockery, indignation, and sarcasm toward the regime's economic policies. Many users noted that the government ended up "validating" what it had criticized for months. "El Toque is now officially nationalized," one user remarked, while others commented that "the Central Bank copied their neighbor's exam" and "now it's a back-and-forth between you and elToque."

Some comments described the coincidence as "a joke," "an official copy," or "a tasteless comedy," while others summed up the public's frustration: "So much swimming to die on the shore." One user, with a more critical tone, wrote, "After all the trash they talked about elToque, were they right or not?"

Messages ridiculing the previous official campaign against elToque were not lacking, with phrases like "After all that talk, now elToque is official" or "So much chatter to end up the same." Others focused on the absurdity of the measure: "I think someone peeked at the neighbor's test," one user wrote, referring to the similarity between the rates. "These two are in love: BCC and elToque," or "It's no longer elToque, it's elTeque," said others. Additionally, there were those who expressed disillusionment and fatigue with the monetary chaos: "Another measure that screws the average Cuban," "Nothing changes, just the names," or "Same dog, different collar."

Toirac responded to a comment defending the Central Bank by saying, "Didn't they spend nearly two months saying that elToque's dollar values were inflated to destroy the economy? And now what?"

This isn't the first time the comedian has poked fun at the regime's monetary policies. On December 12, he sarcastically proposed the creation of the "pesolar," a fictional currency used to mock the coexistence of multiple currencies and exchange rates in Cuba. On that occasion, he suggested eliminating the Cuban peso, "a national currency that isn't worth anything in the nation," and the dollar, "which isn't national even if they try to nationalize it by force," accompanying his message with a caricature of a bill replacing Benjamin Franklin's face with his own.

A month earlier, in November, he published another reflection titled "It's Always Someone Else's Fault," where he criticized the government for blaming elToque for the national economic collapse instead of acknowledging "decades of failed policies and absolute state control."

The new exchange rate, introduced by BCC President Juana Lilia Delgado, took effect on December 18 and divides the market into three segments: a state segment (1x24), a business segment (1x120), and a floating segment targeting individuals and small businesses, whose rate will be updated daily according to supply and demand.

On its first day of implementation, the dollar was officially set at 410 CUP and the euro at 481.42 CUP, values nearly identical to those reported by the informal market (440 and 480 CUP, respectively). According to authorities, the measure aims to "organize currency flows" and "reduce informality," although even Central Bank officials admitted that "it might not be what many expected," acknowledging that the system will only sell what it can buy and that the new exchange rate won't eliminate the parallel market immediately.

With the almost identical rates between the official and informal sectors, Ulises Toirac's post reignited the debate on the Central Bank's credibility and the implicit acknowledgment that the real value of the Cuban peso has long been determined outside state institutions.