Cuba eliminates the "convertible peso" used in government establishments valued at 24 pesos/dollar for sales and 25 pesos/dollar for purchases. This is the first devaluation of the peso since the Revolution of 1959.[2]
The minimum wage increases from 400 pesos to 2,100 pesos (USD $17 to USD $87).[3]
January 11 – The United States re-lists Cuba as State Sponsors of Terrorism. President Obama removed Cuba from the list in 2015.[4]
January 29
Thousands protest against and demand the resignation of Alpidio Alonso, Minister of Culture, for injuries and invasion of privacy. The demands came after a confrontation with entertainers and independent journalists who demanded more freedom of expression.[5]
February 26 – José Daniel Ferrer of the Unión Patriótica de Cuba (Patriotic Union of Cuba, UNPACU) is arrested in Altamira, Santiago de Cuba.[11] The United States demanded his release.[12]
March and April
March 5 – Sandro Castro, 29, grandson of Fidel Castro, apologizes for showing off an expensive Mercedes-Benz at 140 km (87 mi) per hour while the country is facing an economic crisis and food shortages.[13]
March 6 – Seven migrants are stopped at Islamorada and one at Duck Key in the Florida Keys. The U.S. has returned 87 people from Cuba trying to reach Florida by sea since October 1, 2020.[14]
July 11 – Biggest anti-government protests in years over the worst economic crisis since the 1990s and surges in COVID-19 infections, with protesters expressing anger over shortages of basic goods, curbs on civil liberties, and the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Cuba.[18]
Deaths
January 14 – Enrique Pineda Barnet, 87, film director and screenwriter (I Am Cuba).[19]
