We are «at a crossroads» by indebtedness, says its director

The president of the state monopoly of telecommunications in Cuba, Etecsa, Tania Velázquez Rodríguez, defended in an appearance on national television the new Measures package of that entity, qualified as tariff and widely rejected by the population.

Measures include a drastic increase in the price of Internet services and dollar collection of extra mobile telephony packages.

Velázquez Rodríguez justified the tariff pointing to the loss of «more than 60 % of the income that came from abroad» that Etecsa has suffered due to «fraud elements», which has generated a «critical operational situation» for the company, he said.

«We are at the crossroads that the company faces a very high indebtedness … We face debts that we cannot pay,» lamented the official, before the question of the official journalist Lázaro Manuel Alonso about the cost that the new tafifas, higher than the minimum wage of about 2,100 pesos, represents for the majority of the population.

Since last Friday, Etecsa customers can recharge their main balance to 360 CUP over 30 days. After that, the extra more economical plan amounts to 3,360 CUP per 3 GB.

To criticism for the dollarization of the service, Velázquez Rodríguez replied that «the rates are maintained in CUP», and that their implementation is governed by the resolutions established by the Ministries of Communications and Finance and Prices.

The official admitted, however, that «the concept of dollarization is a necessity today, in some way, in some sectors.»

«More than 15 years ago we have the concept of international recharge, which has been very well used by an important percentage of our client base …. We take advantage of the possibilities that we can have a market outside Cuba today, which also has the interest of keeping your relatives communicated,» he said.

The activist and communicator Mag Jorge Castro criticized the statements of Velázquez Rodríguez.

«The tariff is maintained and apparently the only self -criticism is that they lacked» communication. «They treat citizens as stupid, everyone perfectly understood what they want to do,» he wrote in his X account next to a video fragment with the appearance of the official on national television.

The Minister of Communications of Cuba, Mayra Arevich Marín, also justified the tariff with A similar speech.

«The new applied ETECSA commercial measures are necessary for the sustainability of telecommunications infrastructure, continue to support the development of the country, guarantee cybersecurity and quality of services to the people,» he said in a post in X.

He added that the population’s opinions on the new measures «are being valued and coordinated actions are implemented with the party, the government, the organizations, the organizations and the territories for their attention.»

Since the announcement of the new rates, last Friday, thousands of users on social networks have criticized the measure, which arrives at a time of national despair due to long blackouts of up to 20 hours in some localities of the country and the persistent shortage of food and other essential products.

University students They asked for the tariff review in an open letter to the state company. «We consider that these measures restrict the fundamental right to information, education and communication, essential pillars for the academic and personal development of students,» they said.

The Etecsa measures were announced by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero last December, before the Plenary of the National Assembly of Popular Power (Unicameral Parliament). Marrero then said that in 2025 an increase in internet services rates would occur with the objective of «capturing currencies.» He also said that a consumption limit would be established, and that those who wish to exceed it should pay for more connection at a higher price.