Cubadebate speaks of “difficult days,” and Cubans erupt: “We are dead while alive.”

A recent post from Cubadebate about the crisis in Cuba sparked an avalanche of critical comments on social media, where dozens of users responded with frustration, irony, and fatigue in light of what they see as decades of accumulated hardships.

The official media shared on Facebook an article by the Cuban psychologist Manuel Calviño titled “Painting One's Face the Color of Hope”, in which the author reflects on fear and anxiety in times of crisis, urging to confront them with hope, solidarity, and reflective thinking.

In the text, Calviño acknowledges the current difficulties facing the country.

"Cubans are living through difficult days. Days when the weight of the shortages of basic services often bears down on us with overwhelming force. Our daily life is being shaken," wrote the psychologist.

However, the message sparked a strong reaction among many readers, who considered the author's diagnosis of the country's situation to be insufficient or disconnected.

“Difficult days? We've been like this for decades,” wrote a user in the comments.

Another was even more direct: "It's not days, it's more than 60 years."

Among the responses, there were also testimonies filled with frustration and despair. “We are dead while living,” commented one person, while another internet user stated that in Cuba, “one does not live, one survives.”

Some also questioned the contrast between the official discourse and the day-to-day conditions of the population.

"Those who speak of resistance are not the ones experiencing blackouts or losing their food due to power outages," wrote a commentator.

There were also those who directly blamed the political system for the crisis the country is experiencing, while others mocked the language of the article and what they saw as a downplaying of the issues.

“Difficult days, they say... I’ve been hearing the same thing my whole life,” commented another user.

Calviño's article, which proposes combating fear through reflection, dialogue, and hope, also warns about the role of social media in amplifying uncertainty and negative emotions.

According to the psychologist, much of the information circulating on the internet can "exaggerate the elements of the crisis" and generate induced fear or pessimism, which is why he recommends seeking reliable sources and developing one's own criteria.

But in the comments section of the post, the conversation took a different turn: dozens of Cubans seized the opportunity to express their accumulated exhaustion after years of scarcity, blackouts, inflation, and the deterioration of basic services.

For many of them, the crisis is not a recent or situational affair.

"This is not a difficult time. It's entire generations living through the same thing," summarized one of the comments that generated the most reactions to the post.