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The Cuban troubadour Silvio Rodríguez openly questioned the hotel construction policy promoted by the Cuban government in a detailed interview published this Sunday by the Spanish media outlet elDiario.es from Havana.
The 79-year-old singer-songwriter linked this investment bet to the plans that emerged after the diplomatic rapprochement with Barack Obama, suggesting that expenditures were made which no one wanted to halt, even when the island's economic situation dramatically worsened.
Rodríguez also criticized the regime's economic vision as "orthodox and closed" and advocated for a socialism that is less "rigid."
"Fidel said that our model no longer served us, that Revolution was about changing everything that needed to be changed. I can't understand how decades have gone by without more effective measures being taken. If a more realistic economy had been adopted, what is happening today would not be possible, or at least not in such a dramatic way," the musician stated.
In 2023, Cuba allocated four times more resources to hotels than to public health, with 2,325.3 million pesos in tourism compared to just 583.3 million for healthcare.
The outcome of that strategy has been a clear failure, particularly in the last three years. The hotel occupancy in Cuba fell below 10% at the beginning of 2026, after having recorded only 21.5% in the first half of 2025.
In 2025, investments in hotels and restaurants fell to 4.7% of the total, down from 11.3% the previous year, indicating that the government itself began to reallocate resources in light of the magnitude of the disaster.
Rodríguez described a very serious social situation on the island: rampant inflation, difficulty in acquiring basic food items, a collapse of the hospital system, and closures of schools and universities.
At the same time, the troubadour harshly criticized the U.S. embargo, while not shying away from the internal responsibilities of the regime: "There has never been a blockade in history longer than that of Cuba, and now, with the latest measures, none more cruel and inhumane."
The statements come at a time of intense pressure from Washington: in May 2026, the Trump administration expanded sanctions against Cuban officials and entities linked to energy, defense, mining, and finance, measures that coincided with the blockade on Venezuelan oil to Cuba and exacerbated blackouts.
Rodríguez's words on hotel policy stand in stark contrast to his recent public image: in March 2026, he was criticized for receiving an AKM rifle at an official ceremony of the Ministry of the Armed Forces, attended by Díaz-Canel, an incident that sparked outrage due to the stark contrast with the everyday misery of the population.
An economist cited in previous analyses noted that for eight years the government concentrated 35% of the investment in hotels, relegating sectors such as agriculture, fishing, sugar cane, and energy, which are pillars that support the daily life of Cubans.
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