Ulises Toirac Challenges Price Caps: "Where Can I Report ETECSA and Foreign Currency Stores for Price Gouging and Fraud?"

Cuban comedian Ulises Toirac took to Facebook on Monday to deliver a sharp critique of the regime's campaign against so-called "abusive prices" imposed by private merchants, labeling it an ineffective "witch hunt" from an economic standpoint.

Toirac began his post with a touch of irony, acknowledging that if he were a merchant, he would do exactly what the government seeks to suppress: raise prices as long as the market allows it.

"It's what supply and demand dictate, something we've clamored for. If they pay, if my stock sells out at this price, then I'll raise it. Period. That's how it works whether we like it or not," he wrote.

The actor acknowledged that high prices harm those without purchasing power but argued that the underlying issue is the severe distortion of consumption in Cuba.

"No economy enforces price caps. It distorts consumption, which is one of the main economic indicators. And Cuba's is really messed up, so this is what happens," he pointed out.

Rather than the current enforcement campaign, Toirac suggested an alternative solution for the government: reduce the costs of importing and selling essential goods so that increased supply naturally drives prices down.

To close his post, Ulises posed an ironic question: "Where can I report ETECSA, the UNE, and foreign currency stores for price gouging and fraud?"

With this query, he equated the practices of state entities to the "abuses" the regime targets solely in the private sector, a contradiction perceived daily by Cubans.

The criticism comes at a time of particular confusion in the regime's pricing policy. In June, even Miguel Díaz-Canel admitted that national price caps "failed to contain inflation" and led to "product shortages" and "diversions into illegality."

Shortly thereafter, the regime lifted the caps on chicken, oil, powdered milk, pasta, and sausages under Resolution 150/2026.

However, just weeks later, several provinces began reinstating them independently. Villa Clara set maximum prices for items like eggs at 110 pesos each and oil at 2,500 pesos per liter. Meanwhile, Matanzas provided phone lines to report abusive prices.

In other provinces such as Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, Holguín, and Pinar del Río, authorities have also reinstated price controls on basic foods, doing so unilaterally and without coordination.

This cycle of control, scarcity, removal, and reinstatement is precisely the backdrop Toirac is highlighting. Economists Pedro Monreal and Elías Amor have already called the new provincial caps "absurd," arguing they favor shortages and push goods to the informal market.

This is not the first time Toirac has criticized the regime's economic policies. Weeks earlier, he called out ETECSA, demanding it reinvest its profits or allow the entry of Starlink, and throughout the year, he has consistently held the government accountable for the country's economic collapse.

"A 'galactic snitching' has erupted, which, of course, is a logical 'continuity' of our recent history," Toirac wrote at the start of his latest post, summarizing with his characteristic irony what economists and citizens have been denouncing for months: that the regime repeats the same mistakes without taking responsibility for their consequences.