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A Cuban emigrant shared an image on Facebook sent by his mother from Cuba that sparked a wave of collective sorrow among thousands of compatriots both on the island and abroad: a breakfast prepared on an improvised stove made of bricks and charcoal, a worn black frying pan with an omelette, a plastic cup with saltine crackers, and a metal pot.
"Man, Purita sent me this photo from Cuba and it broke my heart. Only a Cuban with a mother, father, or family there can understand the weight that such a simple image can carry," the author wrote on the Vibras Latinas page.
The man explained that it is not a lack of effort on the part of the emigrants. "You send them food, and power outages often cause it to spoil. You send them appliances, but there is no electricity to use them. You send them things to improve their lives, and yet they still have to keep finding ways to cook breakfast," he wrote.
That sense of helplessness—the inability to protect one's family despite financial sacrifices—is the emotional core that turned the photo of "la Purita" into a trigger for shared grief.
"There are people who will see this photo and only see a tortilla. I see my mother. I see sacrifice. I see years of deprivation. I see an entire generation accustomed to suffering in silence," he added.
The scene depicted in the image is not exceptional: it reflects a reality that has spread throughout Cuba.
Wood and coal stoves even appeared on the balconies of urban buildings in Santiago de Cuba, and in Villa Clara a Cuban went so far as to build a stove using dry almond leaves to be able to cook during the blackouts.
In May 2026, the Electric Union estimated a generation of only 976 MW against a peak demand of 3,150 MW, resulting in a deficit of 2,174 MW. Blackouts reached 22 hours daily in Havana and up to 24 hours in provinces like Holguín.
The food crisis is equally severe. According to the Food Security Program of 2025, 96.91% of Cubans have lost access to food due to inflation, and 33.89%
The comments from internet users expanded the portrayal. Several pointed out that the author's mother was "fortunate" for having eggs, cookies, and coal.
"And fortunate was she to have eggs, oil, cookies, and charcoal to cook," one wrote. Another added, "And the harsh truth is that many of us don't even have half of what is seen there."
A Cuban resident on the island was straightforward: "Friend, I live in Cuba, and 99% of Cubans are in this situation. What we are going through is not easy, but this will change one way or another."
An older woman living in Cuba wrote: "At my age, I have never experienced this, not even during the Special Period. The dollar keeps rising every day, and don't even get me started on food prices."
Another internet user recounted an even more distressing situation: "I have my little mom bed-ridden for years; I go through so much effort to do things, and when the power goes out, I can't even blend her food, and then I have to come up with something else so she doesn't go without eating."
The author of the post concluded their publication with a phrase that summarized the feelings of thousands: "Many of our mothers should already be resting and enjoying life, but they are still problem-solving, innovating, and enduring."
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