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Francisca Santos Herrera, a resident of Pueblo Nuevo, south of Yaguajay, Sancti Spíritus, has recently turned 105 years old, an impressive achievement in a country where food and medicine are in short supply and pensions for retirees are meager.
A report from the local media Escambray describes her as a centenarian with "the clarity of a twenty-year-old." The woman has 16 children and has seen more than 30 grandchildren grow up.
The text by Alejandro Méndez, her interviewer for the official press, presents her as an eloquent woman, with a "fluent speech."
Santos Herrera, born in 1920, has not led an easy life. She became a widow at 43 years old while she was pregnant with her sixteenth child.
His husband, Higinio Delgado Carrero, was a peasant leader who was born in Remedios and was murdered in 1963 by "a group of bandits."
On the day of his assassination, as one of his daughters recounted years ago, he was not supposed to go to work, but he decided to harvest malanga at the La Gloria farm.
"He left very early, but it seems that the bandits were tipped off and were waiting for him near the house of a farmer named Oscar Rodríguez." Francisca's spouse was shot nearly 50 times.
The centenarian woman, alone, worked to provide for her family and over the years watched four of her children die.
Until last year, the oldest person in Cuba was Lucía Chacón Hechavarría, who passed away in July 2024 at the age of 112 years and 222 days in her hometown of Santiago de Cuba.
The elderly woman was born on December 13, 1911, in the area of El Grillo, a locality situated between Sabanilla and Los Lazos, in the former region of Mayarí Arriba, now known as Segundo Frente.
Another long-lived resident of Sancti Spíritus, Luis Sebastián Ortiz Marín, shared last year, at the age of 110, that his secret to living over a century was eating flour, jutías, and fish heads.
In an interview with the state-run newspaper, the elderly man, originally from San Pedro, Sancti Spíritus, recounted that his life has been shaped by hard work in the fields and a diet based on simple foods.
For him, the combination of foods was "the magic formula" to reach 110 years, but today there is not even access to flour, jutía, let alone fish.
Another centenarian from Sancti Spíritus named Cira Delia Vegas Pérez said that “luck” has been her only secret to reaching her venerable age.
Frequently asked questions about longevity and living conditions in Cuba
How has Francisca Santos Herrera managed to reach 105 years in Cuba?
Francisca Santos Herrera has reached 105 years remaining lucid and eloquent despite the adversities in Cuba, where the scarcity of food and medicine is a constant challenge. Her life has been marked by loss and effort, as she became a widow at the age of 43 and raised her 16 children alone.
What challenges do the elderly face in Cuba?
Elderly people in Cuba face significant challenges, such as food and medication shortages, insufficient pensions to cover their basic needs, and in many cases, the necessity to continue working or live in conditions of begging to survive. The lack of resources and institutional protection worsens their situation, leaving them vulnerable and sometimes unprotected.
What factors contribute to longevity in Cuba according to the interviewed elders?
The elderly interviewed in Cuba attribute their longevity to various factors. Luis Sebastián Ortiz Marín, who is 110 years old, mentions a diet based on flour, jutías, and fish heads, while Cira Delia Vegas Pérez believes that "luck" has been her only secret to reaching an advanced age. These testimonies reflect a combination of personal habits and fortuitous factors in a context of scarcity.
How does the socialist regime affect the elderly in Cuba?
The socialist regime in Cuba has contributed to a situation of scarcity and neglect for many elderly individuals, who must find ways to survive due to insufficient pensions and a lack of adequate social assistance. Dependence on a system that does not guarantee basic resources exacerbates their vulnerability and quality of life.
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