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The Cuban ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel posted a message on Facebook this Monday for International Children's Day, calling Cuban children a "treasure" and promising to defend them. However, the post triggered a wave of criticism from users who highlighted the gap between that rhetoric and the reality faced by children on the island.
In his message, Díaz-Canel quoted José Martí —“in them resides hope, and they are the ones who know how to love”— and stated that “the joy of every Cuban child is sacred,” later attributing the issues facing children to the “fierce blockade that imperialism inflicts.”
The post, accompanied by an image of girls painting on the floor of a classroom, elicited responses that contradict the official portrayal point by point.
An internet user summarized the food situation in three words: "Eating bread and water."
Another user was more explicit: if minors were truly respected, she wrote, "they would have more opportunities for a life with the basics: electricity, breakfast, toys, etc."
A commentator listed the lack of medications, power outages, the decline of education, and food shortages as the harsh reality of Cuban children.
Meanwhile, a Cuban pointed directly at the ruler: "Your grandchildren will be happy, as will the children of the shameless who live well like you."
The contrast between speech and facts is documented by international organizations. According to the World Food Programme, 48.5% of Cuban students aged six to eleven do not receive any meals or snacks at school. UNICEF indicates that 9% of children under five years old suffer from severe nutritional deprivation.
The Food Monitor Program reported that in April 2026, 96.91% of the Cuban population lacked adequate access to food, and that 33.9% of households had at least one member who went to bed hungry in the previous 30 days.
The that over 11,000 children are awaiting surgeries postponed due to power outages and shortages of medical supplies, amid an energy crisis that on May 16 affected 51% of the country simultaneously, with blackouts lasting up to 22 hours a day in Havana.
This very Monday, while Díaz-Canel was posting his congratulations, a mother in Marianao was arrested by the police while asking for food for her son, leaving the child alone.
It is not the first time that the ruler has resorted to this type of message. In June 2025, he celebrated the same day with the phrase "Where resources are lacking, let imagination prevail," which was received as a trivialization of child poverty. An exiled mother responded at that time: "Clean your mouth before speaking about Cuban children".
In November 2025, Díaz-Canel reaffirmed that the Revolution defends "all its rights to dignity and growth", as the crisis deepened.
The massive exodus reflects the magnitude of the problem: between 2021 and 2025, over a million Cubans emigrated, many of them complete families with children, which drove the fertility rate to an all-time low of 1.29 children per woman in 2024 and reduced the island's population to 9,748,007 residents by the end of that year.
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