Havana: Group chats on Telegram are awash with waves of messages. One user requested "liquid ibuprofen and acetaminophen, please." It is urgent as it affects my 10 month old baby.

Others offer medicines they've brought from elsewhere and ask that you "direct message me." Antibiotics, pregnancy tests, vitamins, rash creams, and more are listed in emoji-speckled lists.

The 170,000-member group message is one of many that have spread in Cuba recently with a sharp increase in Internet use on the communist-run island.

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In crisis-hit Cuba, where access to the most basic goods like milk, chicken, medicine and cleaning supplies has always been scarce, the informal sale of everything from eggs to car parts - the country's so-called black market - is a time-honored tradition. .

Although the market is technically illegal, how illegal it is in the eyes of the authorities depends on the types of goods sold and how they were obtained.

According to Ricardo Torres, a Cuba and economics fellow at the American University in Washington, such exchanges previously took place "through your contacts, your neighbors and your local community". But now you can communicate with the whole province thanks to the Internet. The online market "has benefited from the worst economic downturn and shortages in years."

The unofficial exchange rate, which offers pesos per dollar or euro higher than the official bank rate, is the subject of lively WhatsApp groups.
The Cuban equivalent of Craigslist, including Revolico.

The island's first digital platform for buying and selling advertises everything from imported electric bicycles to "capitalist apartments" in Havana's affluent neighborhoods.

Most goods are priced in pesos, but more expensive items are often listed in dollars, and payment is usually made in cash or via international bank transfer.

Many basic needs are still out of reach for people like Leonardo, a state-employed engineer who asked not to use his real name for fear of retribution from the government. While wealthy Cubans, or those whose families send money from abroad, can afford more lavish items, many basic necessities remain out of reach for people like Leonardo.

Leonardo began buying items from friends who were arriving from other countries three months ago, including inhalers, antibiotics and rash cream, and reselling them online for a small profit.

Such "resellers" or resellers are harshly criticized by the government, especially those who buy goods from Cuban shops and then resell them at a higher price.

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A call to action on the exercise was made by President Miguel Diaz-Canel in late October. He described the Avengers as "criminals, swindlers, riffraff, lazy and corrupt".

In a meeting with government representatives, he said, "We cannot allow that those who do not work, do not contribute, and break the law earn more than those who actually contribute and do well." get more opportunities to live like this. "If we did that, we would be violating the fundamental principles of socialism,"

However, Leonardo claimed that he and others like him were just trying to survive. "This medicine is given to those who need it, those who have breathing problems," he announced. "The people who use them are the ones who really need them. We sell more antibiotics than anything else.

Leonardo is able to buy soap, food, antibiotics and vitamins for his elderly parents with the proceeds from his sales.
Cubans have developed a special kind of creative resilience during decades of economic turmoil that is evident in the development of new digital markets.

Critics argue that the crisis is a result of poor government economic management and a reluctance to embrace the private sector, in addition to the US government's six-decade trade embargo on the island.

So the people on the island are very resourceful with whatever is available to them. For example, consider vintage cars from the 1950s that are still in use today due to the ingenuity of the mechanics and the use of spare parts to make up for the scarcity of newer vehicles.

Entrepreneurs have dealt with very limited internet access before using the same creativity. Revolico was founded in 2007 by Cuban expatriates Carlos Javier Matar and Hiram Santels, who now live in Spain, to "alleviate the difficulties of life in Cuba".

To match the slow internet on the island, he kept the site's design straightforward and reminiscent of Craigslist. However, access to Revolico was restricted in 2008, the same year that the government lifted restrictions on the sale of personal computers.

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The ban remained in place until 2016. Peas and Sentales managed to get around the firewall in the interim by using digital tools and various host websites. Despite the lack of cellphone internet, many people still had trouble accessing the site.