Cuban priest Alberto Reyes: "We are a bankrupt country and voiceless for the poorest."

The priest Alberto Reyes Pías reported on his Facebook account what he described as a "spiral of misery" in Cuba that is pulling an increasing number of people into a critical situation characterized by hunger and lack of protection.

In a message filled with harshness, Reyes, known for his outspoken stance against the Castro dictatorship, asserts that structural poverty has spread throughout the country, while hunger is becoming increasingly evident.

The Camagüey parish priest reports that many Cubans work for months without receiving any payment, especially in the agricultural sector, while others—workers and retirees—are forced to collect their wages on cards that banks cannot convert into cash.

The situation, he points out, does not only affect the poorest: even those who have savings in foreign currency face restrictions in accessing their money, in a sort of "financial corralito" where banks admit they are unable to deliver the hard currency deposited.

"We are a bankrupt country," Reyes states bluntly, claiming that the promised socialist planning in ludicrous speeches of the past failed in its objective to ensure prosperity.

In his analysis, the priest points to the lack of economic freedoms as a deep cause of national stagnation. "We forget that when a country respects the freedom of its citizens to engage in the economy, when ordinary people can progress, then the country has the resources to move forward," he wrote.

Next, CiberCuba shares the full text of the post.

I have been thinking… (108) by Alberto Reyes Pías

I have been thinking about the spiral of misery

Many years ago, during a pilgrimage to the sanctuary of El Cobre, walking from Bahía de Nipe, we were welcomed in a village. I was assigned to stay with a couple who were as warm-hearted as they were poor.

That night, they only had a little rice and a few meager fish that the man of the house had managed to catch that same afternoon.

It was the first time I understood what 'insurmountable misery' meant. It was the first time I realized that there are people who will never be able to escape misery unless there is a social change, a change in structures, a change in the system.

Years have passed, and that experience has been repeating itself over and over again, becoming more frequent with time. I could compile an endless list of names: names of entire towns, neighborhoods, individuals… names that carry the weight of hunger, lack of protection, silent vulnerability—vulnerability that no one speaks of because in their insurmountable misery, they don't even have a voice to defend them, a face to show to the world that ignores them.

In addition to this already precarious situation, there is now the issue of unpaid wages for many workers, especially in agriculture. Months and months of working without pay, clinging to a promise of payment that never arrives.

Something similar happens with workers and pensioners, who are forced to receive their money on a card that banks cannot convert into cash, while life goes on and hunger increasingly becomes a part of that life.

But even the most privileged are not exempt from this tragedy.

We have already joined the list of countries that have implemented the 'corralito', where the 'hard' currency deposited in banks can no longer be withdrawn, where you officially have strong money in your account but the banks tell you they cannot give it to you, and they cannot because that currency is no longer there; someone who was supposed to be your guarantor, who was supposed to safeguard your money, has taken it, and the banks have no way to replace it, and can only offer you an unfavorable exchange or a promise of repayment that could be eternal.

We are a country in bankruptcy, where the siege grows tighter around the most vulnerable, those who have no one to support them with external assistance.

Those ridiculous speeches, where we were mesmerized by the certainty of 'socialist planning,' are far behind us—those that promised to eliminate all shortages while we sat back and watched liberalism sink forever those who did not choose the socialist path.

Perhaps we mistakenly equate liberalism with freedom; perhaps we did not consider that governments do not create wealth, that it is the citizens who generate wealth, and that citizens need freedom in order to produce. We forget that when a country respects the freedom of its citizens to engage in the economy, when ordinary people progress, then the country has resources to advance and thrive, providing all possible avenues to escape misery.

Frequently Asked Questions about Father Alberto Reyes' Critiques of the Cuban Regime