Lis Cuesta has just learned about the problems in Cuba's healthcare system and described the situation as "very sad and very shocking," while commenting on social media about some data concerning the waiting list for surgeries in the country.
The wife of the ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel published her comment on X, sharing a text from Minister José Ángel Portal Miranda published in the newspaper "El Heraldo de México," in which the difficulties facing the sector are mentioned.
In the article, Portal Miranda attributes the crisis to the "energy siege" imposed by the United States, which he asserts is hindering the normal operation of medical services that rely on a continuous electricity supply.
"There are patients who suffer and families who wait for solutions that sometimes are delayed or do not arrive, due to external factors that are the result of that progressive policy of strangling the Cuban economy by the Government of the United States," he stated.
"The surgical waiting list in the country reaches a total of 96,387 patients, of which 11,193 are children. With the current energy restrictions, these numbers increase as they force the National Health System to postpone non-urgent surgeries to prioritize oncological ones...", he stated.
The post was shared by Lis Cuesta, who summarized her reaction in a brief comment: "Very sad and very upsetting."
A health crisis that didn't start now
Cuesta's words come at a time when the Cuban healthcare system is facing one of its most critical situations in recent decades.
However, the seriousness of the problems that are now being publicly acknowledged is not a recent phenomenon. For years, patients, doctors, and families have reported the deterioration of hospitals, the chronic shortage of medications, and the lack of basic equipment and supplies for medical care.
Many patients have died not because of a complicated surgery, but due to a lack of antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, or bronchodilators for those with asthma.
And if many manage to save themselves, it is because those in need take it upon themselves to secure the resources for surgery or treatment, either in the informal market or with the help of someone abroad.
In very serious cases, such as cancer or the need for a transplant, families organize campaigns on social media to raise money and manage humanitarian visas to take the patient to another country where they can receive the medical care that was not provided in Cuba.
These problems have existed for a long time and were already evident before the current U.S. policy or the energy crisis that the country is experiencing.
The shortage of professionals has also worsened due to the emigration of doctors and nurses, or the departure from the sector due to working and salary conditions.
The result is an increasingly strained system, in which thousands of patients must wait months or even years to receive treatments or surgical interventions.
The official narrative versus reality
For decades, the regime has portrayed its healthcare system as one of the main achievements of the political model established on the Island.
However, the progressive deterioration of hospital infrastructure and the increase in waiting lists have revealed a very different reality from what has been officially promoted for years.
Authorities have tended to minimize or deny the extent of these problems, while real data about the healthcare system situation is hidden or distorted.
Therefore, the figure of over 96,000 patients waiting for surgeries, including a significant number of minors, has particularly drawn attention, as it represents an explicit acknowledgment of the magnitude of the crisis.
This kind of data is starting to appear now in official discourse because the government is trying to attribute the difficulties to external factors, such as U.S. policy.
However, the structural deficiencies of the Cuban healthcare system have been accumulating for years and have been repeatedly reported by those who face a lack of resources on a daily basis.
Meanwhile, those in the upper echelons of power do not face the same challenges as the average Cuban. High-ranking officials and their families receive care in exclusive medical centers, with access to medications, technology, and specialists.
Lis Cuesta's words describing the situation as "sad and outrageous" reflect a reality that millions of Cubans have known for a long time: a healthcare system in crisis while thousands of people continue to wait for treatments, medications, or surgeries that often do not arrive on time.
Filed under: