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Hunger in Cuba has reached a level of moral and social deterioration where survival takes precedence over values: every day, more families resort to hunting wild or domestic animals in order to eat.
According to a recent report from the Food Monitor Program (FMP), an independent food monitoring organization, the chronic shortage of protein has pushed Cubans to engage in unimaginable practices that were unthinkable years ago: poaching birds, capturing and selling cats, consuming iguanas, and even fishing with toxic chemicals in rivers.
FMP warns that hunger not only empties stomachs but also "erodes the values that hold a society together."
The Cuban food crisis, exacerbated by inflation, a lack of agricultural production, and institutional disorganization, has pushed entire communities to the brink of survival.
In many rural and urban areas, food is obtained "by any means necessary," regardless of the health or ecological risks involved.
For the FMP, this degradation is not merely a result of hunger, but rather “a long process of institutional collapse” following decades of state control that stifled private initiative and food production.
In the eastern part of the country, the report documents the hunting of the pitirre abejero, a migratory bird whose meat is sold on the black market for about 400 pesos per pound, equivalent to 20% of the minimum wage.
Although it is a protected species, its capture has become a means of subsistence for desperate families, severely impacting local ecosystems.
The organization warns that the pitirre plays an essential role in insect control, and its mass hunting disrupts the environmental balance.
The study also includes testimonies about the sale of cat meat, a practice that is resurfacing three decades after the so-called "Special Period."
In provinces like Guantánamo, it is openly offered on social media platforms such as Revolico and Facebook.
Meat is consumed out of necessity, but also due to popular beliefs that attribute healing properties to it.
Animal protection associations report that cats are hunted, stolen, and euthanized without any health controls, despite the enforcement of Decree-Law 31/2021 on Animal Welfare, which the regime does not effectively apply.
In coastal areas, the Cuban iguana, an endemic species classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, has become a source of food.
The crisis has normalized its hunting for soups and stews, accelerating the decline of the species.
The lack of environmental awareness and the agricultural expansion into their natural habitats exacerbate the problem.
Another practice highlighted by the FMP is the use of chemicals in fishing to capture river shrimp. In some villages, insecticides such as cypermethrin or permethrin are used, which poison the water and cause massive deaths of fish, crabs, and microfauna.
What may seem like an immediate solution for obtaining protein destroys entire ecosystems and leaves communities exposed to contamination and disease.
Food Monitor Program warns that these examples represent only a portion of the visible deterioration in Cuba.
Every day, new cases are reported of people hunting or consuming any animals they encounter, driven by extreme necessity.
What emerges, the report concludes, is a "morality of scarcity," where hunger redefines social norms and turns despair into justification.
The dilemma for the country, the organization points out, is not to suppress these behaviors, but to reconstruct the material and ethical conditions that make them unnecessary.
While the regime continues to provide neither structural solutions nor productive incentives, Cuba is sinking into a spiral of poverty, environmental degradation, and loss of values.
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