Miguel Hernández, a 10-year-old Cuban boy, was filmed selling coquitos for 150 pesos each on the street to help support his mother and three siblings, in a scene that encapsulates the severity of the crisis the island is experiencing.
The video was published on TikTok by the account @losfueraderosca on May 7th and shows how the minor, who leaves school at noon, spends the rest of the day selling coquitos to help his family.
In the images, the author of the video buys the 10 coquitos he had with him —1,500 pesos in total— and returns the money to him so that he can reinvest it in his small business.
"I am going to pay you, I am going to give you the money for the 10 coquitos, which is 1,500 pesos. And this is so you can take this money and invest more in your little business and buy more coquitos," the man said to the boy.
Miguel has three siblings: one who is 13 years old, one who is five, and a sister who is two.
The author of the video also took the opportunity to advise the young boy: “That is good so you can help your family, help your siblings, and become a man. Fight and never steal, as that is wrong. You need to study so that you can be a good man and help your family.”
In the comments on the post, the author explained the purpose of the video: "We do this to raise awareness and to show how children in Cuba have to start looking for money from a young age in order to provide an income for their families. This was not seen years ago; it reflects poverty and scarcity. We do this so that if many people see them doing this, they will help."
The case of Miguel is not an isolated one. In recent years, dozens of similar situations have been documented in various provinces across the country: a nine-year-old boy in Camagüey selling on the street, two children selling candies in Havana, a teenager selling sweets in a park in Santiago de Cuba, and a 14-year-old boy driving a pedicab to buy food for his mother and sister.
The pattern is consistent: children between the ages of nine and 14 who work informally after school, or even miss classes, driven by the economic crisis, inflation, and the migratory exodus that has left many families without support.
Although the Constitution and the Cuban Labor Code prohibit the employment of minors under 17 years old, the need has normalized their presence on the streets. Child labor has expanded in Cuba amid the crisis, and the new draft of the Labor Code for 2026 reiterates the prohibition without addressing the structural causes that force minors to work.
The president Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged in April 2025 the existence of child labor and begging in the country, although without directly assuming state responsibility: "We cannot allow this to proliferate during this period of economic crisis: the destitute, the beggars, the informal work involving children, the harassment of tourists."
The reality on the streets of Cuba, however, tells a different story than the one acknowledged by the regime: that of children like Miguel, who, at just 10 years old, already bear the burden of supporting their family.
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