CADECA

CADECA (Casa de Cambio S.A.) is Cuba's state-run currency exchange network, operating through offices across the island. On 7 April 2026 CADECA announced that its offices would Begin accepting cash dollar remittances, a significant policy reversal driven by the need to recapture remittance flows that had migrated to informal banquero networks. Analysts at the Havana Consulting Group and CiberCuba noted that formal remittances were running 70 per cent below the 2019 baseline at the time of the announcement.

CADECA was established to manage Cuba's dual-currency system and plays a central role in channelling hard-currency flows between the diaspora and the island. After the 2021 Tarea Ordenamiento monetary reform unified the CUP and CUC, CADECA remained the primary legal exchange point for foreign currency. However, US sanctions on Western Union and other remittance corridors, combined with bank de-risking following EO 14380, pushed much of the diaspora remittance flow into informal channels where the state cannot capture the foreign exchange.

The April 2026 decision to accept cash dollar deposits is an admission that the informal sector has outcompeted the state exchange network. For the Cuban government, recapturing even a fraction of those flows is critical to hard-currency reserves; for the diaspora, the offer must compete with banquero rates that typically exceed the official CADECA rate.