The Cuban YouTuber Maibis Guerra, who has been living in the Dominican Republic for four months, shared an emotional testimony about the everyday realities she left behind in Cuba, from two-hour waits at pharmacies to obtain sanitary pads to not being able to go to the beach without saving for an entire year.
The video, posted on his Instagram account, garnered over 73,000 views in less than 24 hours, with hundreds of comments from Dominicans, Cubans abroad, and Venezuelans who resonated with the experience.
Maibis describes in detail what it meant to obtain a package of sanitary pads—referred to as "intimate" products, from the brand Mariposa—on the island: "Sometimes up to two hours in Cuba, standing in line when this arrived at the pharmacy. It could take up to three months without the product being available, a basic necessity for women."
This crisis of feminine hygiene is not new. For decades, Cuban women have faced this basic necessity often using recycled rags, cotton, or buying sanitary pads on the black market, where prices can equate to a full monthly salary.
Maibis also recalls the price of a carton of eggs in Cuba, and her testimony reveals how something so simple becomes a luxury on the island.
"A carton of eggs today costs the same as my mom's salary, a month's earnings, 3,000 Cuban pesos."
The average salary in Cuba in 2025 was 6,930 pesos, equivalent to about 15 dollars at the informal exchange rate, a figure that makes it impossible to meet basic needs.
"I wish that one day my country could have freedom of expression like this, supermarkets, and the level of quality found in a gym." He added that in Cuba, "one saves for an entire year just to go on vacation for three or four days, to a beach or perhaps to a hotel."
The Dominican Republic has established itself as an emerging destination for Cuban emigration, with 14,664 residences granted since 2018. A devastated Cuban after her trip to the Dominican Republic also shared her emotional impact by comparing both realities, in a trend that continues to grow on social media.
The most emotional moment of the video comes when Maibis envisions bringing her family.
"I would take them to a market and tell them, go on, take whatever you want, because you can here." A user in the comments summed up the general sentiment: "God broke my heart when she said that. It hurts to think about how life is in Cuba."
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