CADECA

CADECA (Casa de Cambio S.A.) is Cuba's state-run currency exchange network, operating through offices across the island. It was established to manage Cuba's dual-currency system and remains the primary legal exchange point for foreign currency. After the 2021 Tarea Ordenamiento monetary reform unified the CUP and CUC, CADECA's central role shifted to channelling hard-currency flows between the diaspora and the domestic economy. US sanctions on Western Union and other formal remittance corridors, combined with bank de-risking following EO 14380, have pushed the majority of diaspora remittance flow into informal banquero networks, with formal remittances running 70 per cent below the 2019 baseline (Havana Consulting Group).

On 7 April 2026 CADECA announced that its offices would begin accepting cash dollar remittances, a significant policy reversal intended to recapture flows lost to informal networks. The trial failed to compress the informal premium. Over the 18 days from launch, the El Toque Informal USD/CUP rate rose from 510 to 530; the euro broke 600 CUP on 19 April (the highest on record); the official Banco Central rate of 492 CUP lagged by around 38 pesos; and no formal-channel volume data was published by CADECA, Fincimex, or the Havana Consulting Group. By early May the informal rate had risen further to 540 CUP, and by late May 2026 reached 568 CUP as the Sovcomflot tanker Universal turned away without delivering fuel.

CADECA's reform failure illustrates the limits of institutional levers in an economy where trust in state channels has collapsed. The diaspora and domestic households prefer informal banquero networks that offer speed, higher rates, and discretion, regardless of CADECA's official pricing. Any substantive narrowing of the informal spread would require either a supply-side improvement in hard-currency availability or a significant policy shift in sanctions pressure from Washington.