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The University of the East (UO), one of the most prestigious academic institutions in Cuba, is going through days of grief and confusion.
Since October 1st until today, there have been at least eight deaths among professors, students, and staff associated with the higher education institution, as reported on social media by the activist Yamilka Lafita Cancio (Lara Crofs).
“Broken families, internet users asking on social media: what did they die from? Neither the university nor the Ministry of Higher Education respond. They just say ‘rest in peace’ and that’s it,” wrote Lafita, visibly upset by what she described as an “unusual chain of deaths.”
The announcements published by the institution itself confirm the deaths of Raudel de Armas Louis (professor in the Department of Biology), Beatriz Carmenaty Corona (student of Sociocultural Management), Luis Enrique Vicet Castellanos (student of Mechanical Engineering), Pedro Antonio Rodríguez Fernández (associate professor of Agronomy), Elio Hermis Castellanos Caballero and Santiago Parra Boffil (retired professors), Ángel Mario Trenard Sayago (artist and professor), and Nuris Avila Saint Félix, professor of Educational Sciences.
The faces, ages, and positions of the victims —several of whom were under 30 years old— have shaken the university community in Santiago, which still has not received an official explanation regarding the causes of the deaths.
Institutional silence and digital censorship
According to reports from students and faculty on social media, the university has deleted comments requesting clarification regarding the deaths. The posts are limited to expressing condolences, without providing any medical or epidemiological details.
"Coincidence or the secrecy that state institutions are accustomed to?" Lafita questioned, recalling that in Cuba, authorities typically handle public health matters with a tight-lipped approach, especially when they are related to epidemic outbreaks or collective deaths.
The lack of official information has raised concerns and rumors about a possible link between the deaths and the national epidemiological crisis, characterized by the rise of dengue, chikungunya, and the Oropouche virus, which are affecting several eastern provinces.
A university struck by the health crisis
The University of Oriente, with over 75 years of history and an estimated enrollment of 11,000 students, has been the epicenter of bad news in recent months.
Since August, various official and community reports have raised alarms about the spread of arboviral diseases in Santiago de Cuba, exacerbated by a lack of fumigation, the accumulation of waste, and a shortage of medications.
Local medical sources have acknowledged under anonymity that hospitals in Santiago de Cuba are facing an overload of patients and limitations in beds and transportation, which delays care for many sick individuals.
The Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) reported in October that over 13,000 fever cases were recorded in just one week, but it refrained from detailing the number of deaths. Independent organizations claim that the actual cases are much higher and that Santiago de Cuba is among the most affected provinces.
In that context, the eight deaths in the UO —which occurred in just 40 days— appear to be part of a broader pattern of mortality associated with the decline in health conditions and the collapse of medical services.
A calculation that puts the severity into perspective
If the proportion of deaths recorded at the University of Oriente—eight fatalities among approximately 11,000 students—were extrapolated to the total population of Cuba, the situation would be alarming.
According to official data from the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), which places the country's population at 9.7 million inhabitants, the result would equate to over 7,000 deaths in just one month.
But if we consider the estimates from the demographer Juan Carlos Albizu-Campos, who estimates that the actual Cuban population is around 8 million due to the massive exodus, the figure would be approximately 5,800 deceased in the same period.
Although it is a hypothetical estimate lacking a statistical scientific basis, the figure reflects the potential magnitude of the health crisis if the situation experienced by the Santiago university community were to occur on a national scale.
Consulted specialists warn that if this pattern is confirmed, it "would be alarming even for a country at war or in a pandemic." However, the silence from the authorities prevents an understanding of the real causes and limits the possibility of preventing new cases.
In a country exhausted by the health and demographic crisis, where hospitals lack resources and dengue and other arboviruses spread uncontrollably, these projected figures reveal the human dimension of the structural deterioration affecting Cuba.
Lack of contingency plans and collective fear
Activist Lara Crofs also questioned whether universities and student centers have prevention and contingency protocols in place regarding the spread of these diseases. "These are your children, your relatives, your friends... what measures are in place to protect them?" she asked in her post.
So far, the Ministry of Higher Education (MES) has not issued any statement regarding the situation. Neither the provincial health department nor the university campus has provided details about the deaths or potential links to infectious diseases.
Pain, fear, and unanswered questions
On social media, messages of mourning are intertwined with expressions of outrage. “How many more have to die for them to tell the truth?” wrote a user on the official page of the University of Oriente before her comment was deleted.
Meanwhile, the death toll continues to rise, and institutional silence becomes deafening. The university community—already marked by scarcity, heat, and poor living conditions in dorms and laboratories—today lives in fear and uncertainty.
The question that many people are asking, both on and off the island, remains the same: What is happening at the University of Oriente?
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