Cuba denounces US-backed economic war, currency manipulation scheme

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
Today 09:59

Cuba accuses US-funded outlet El Toque of leading an economic war through currency manipulation, illegal financing, and efforts to destabilize the national economy.

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An ice cream street vendor shows his Cuban pesos in Havana, Cuba, on April 20, 2024 (AP)

Cuba warned against a United States-orchestrated campaign of economic aggression, denouncing the digital outlet El Toque for operating a “deliberate destabilization program” designed to sabotage the country’s monetary system and fuel social unrest, Reuters reported.

Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz said the platform has become “an actor profoundly harmful to the national economy,” stressing that new evidence links El Toque to an organized scheme of illegal currency trafficking, fiscal evasion, and foreign-funded operations directed “from and for the government of the United States.”

Ayer denunciamos, con evidencias, el vínculo de El Toque y un esquema de tráfico de divisas y evasión fiscal en #Cuba.
Se trata de un programa integral de guerra económica organizado, financiado y ejecutado directamente por el gobierno de EE.UU. #NoAlToque #NoAlTerrorismo pic.twitter.com/kG3kbdkyrp
— Manuel Marrero Cruz (@MMarreroCruz) November 13, 2025

In a statement published on X, Marrero condemned the platform as an integral component of ongoing economic warfare.

“We denounce, with evidence, the link between El Toque and a scheme of currency trafficking and tax evasion in Cuba. This is part of an organized, financed, and directly executed economic war,” he said.

The Prime Minister added that the “representative market rate” promoted by the outlet is “a farce", asserting that the figures fluctuate not due to real market conditions but through “manipulation and speculation intended to distort the national economy.”

He said the government’s upcoming currency-market measures are designed to “restore control over the exchange rate,” ensuring it reflects “the real conditions of our economy and not the product of crude manipulation.”

El Toque funded by State Dept.

Jasan Nieves admitted in a written response to Reuters that El Toque receives US State Department grants “to promote access to information in Cuba and to support the US embassy in Havana in implementing public diplomacy programs.”

However, Nieves refused to admit that this funding influences El Toque's operations.

Mercenarism, illegal currency operations, fiscal crimes

Investigative reports from Razones de Cuba describe El Toque as a “criminal structure” operating under the facade of independent journalism. The outlet is accused of violating multiple articles of the Cuban Penal Code, including:

Article 135: Mercenarism: receiving foreign financing to conduct actions against the Cuban state.
Article 315.1(g): Illegal currency operations: promoting and legitimizing black-market exchange rates through its real-time currency tracker.
Articles 319–320: Fiscal crimes: failing to declare foreign funding and evading taxation.

According to these reports, the platform’s actions have “concrete and measurable” economic impacts, including the delegitimization of the Central Bank’s official rate, stimulation of speculative hoarding, and direct inflationary pressure on household purchasing power.

Cuban analysts argue that the publication of unauthorized exchange rates creates expectations of devaluation that translate immediately into retail price increases, worsening the financial burden on families and accelerating the erosion of the national currency.

Razones de Cuba concludes that the platform’s activity amounts to “a manual of economic aggression” combining mercenarism, illegal financial operations, and sabotage of national monetary stability.