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A mother from Havana summarized in a few words the drama faced by thousands of Cuban families today. When she was asked if she saw any way out of the crisis, she replied no. She only wished that her children could leave the country to find peace.
The testimony is part of the report "Cuba, the Island that is Dimming," broadcast this Monday by the Argentine news program Telenoche (Canal 13). In this piece, journalist Carolina Amoroso depicted the current reality of Havana after entering Cuba covertly with a tourist visa to bypass the restrictions imposed by the regime on the foreign press.
"I don't see any. My children, if they can get ahead, may God allow it... because even if they leave, even if they are far away, it doesn't matter, but I know I am at peace," the woman declared before the cameras.
The phrase captures the sentiment of many Cuban parents who no longer dream of a better future within the island, but rather hope for the possibility that their children can escape from it.
The report, filmed with limited resources by cameraman Juan Pablo Chávez, depicts a Cuba submerged in one of the worst economic and social crises of recent decades. The testimonies collected from various neighborhoods in Havana describe blackouts at any time of day, a virtually nonexistent public transport system, and an extreme shortage of food and medicine.
"Like the clowns, we are laughing, but inside we are incredibly sad. Too lifeless," confessed another interviewed neighbor.
A family reported that they only eat once a day, at night, “whatever shows up”: an egg or a bit of ground meat, because chicken is simply out of reach. According to one testimony, a package of chicken costs nearly the equivalent of a full monthly salary. The ration booklet barely guarantees one loaf of bread per person each day.
A former paramedic recounted that he left his job in ambulances because "there were more deceased people he transported than actual work." Another neighbor showed what was once his childhood home, now destroyed by leaks and lack of maintenance. According to one of the interviewees, 80% of Havana residents want to emigrate.
The lack of fuel has also partially halted garbage collection, resulting in large piles of waste in the streets and corners of the capital.
"Now it is impossible to live in Cuba. Look at how the streets are. Everything is falling apart, everything is collapsing. They don't collect the trash, there are no medicines in the hospitals," reported another Havana resident.
The picture presented in the report aligns with alarming figures. The survey “There is Hunger in Cuba 2025”, conducted by Food Monitor Program and published on May 4 with 2,513 responses collected from the 16 provinces of the country, revealed that 33.9% of Cuban households had at least one member who went to bed hungry, nine points higher than in 2024. Furthermore, 79.4% of respondents reported spending more than 80% of their income solely on food.
The energy crisis further worsens the situation. Last Monday, May 11, the power generation deficit reached 1,955 MW, with an availability of only 1,245 MW against a national demand of 3,200 MW. By the time this edition closed, a village in Matanzas had gone seven consecutive days without electricity.
In this context, the Cuban government announced the liberalization of fuel prices starting May 15, eliminating fixed prices, while gasoline has practically disappeared from state-owned stations.
Since 2021, more than a million Cubans have left the country, reducing the effective population of the island from 11.3 million to between 8.6 and 8.8 million inhabitants.
«Cuba is fading away and there is no longer a narrative that can deceive it. This is the story of a country that is collapsing. But it is also the story of a people in search of lost hope and dignity,» concludes the narration of the report from Telenoche.
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