Tropical montane cloud forests (TMCF) are recognized for their capacity to maintain high dry-season baseflow, and a host of other, ecosystem services. Despite their importance, they are endangered with a multidirectional array of land use changes, including conversion to pasture and crops such as coffee, while there are places where forest is being recovered. However, little is known about the effects of this complex dynamic on catchment hydrology. We investigated the effect of land use on rainfall-runoff response in five neighboring headwater micro-catchments in central Veracruz, Mexico, by comparing primary TMCF (PF), young (20 yr-old) and intermediate (40 yr-old) naturally regenerating TMCF (YF and IF, respectively), shaded coffee (SC), and an intensively grazed pasture (IP). We used a 4-year record of high-resolution rainfall and streamflow (10 min) data, collected from 2015 to 2019. These data were analyzed via hydrologic metrics and statistical tests. Results showed no statistical difference in the regulation capacity of high flows after 20 years of natural regeneration, compared to the PF. In terms of baseflow sustenance, our results suggested that PF and IF better promote this hydrological service than the other land uses, although all the catchments showed high mean annual low flows. SC exhibited a high capacity to modulate peak flows comparable to that of PF, and an intermediate capacity to sustain baseflow, suggesting that the integrated functioning of this catchment was largely preserved. Finally, we found that 40 years of pasture management can decrease the soil hydraulic properties in the area, causing a fivefold increase in the peak discharge response, and a much lower baseflow maintenance compared to PF.