A Cuban university graduate identified as Ernesto has become the face of a reality that thousands of young people on the Island silently share: five years of university education that do not translate into a means of earning a living.
His testimony, captured in a video by content creator Covers Enoc published on Facebook, bluntly summarizes the failure of the system that the Cuban regime has spent decades boasting about as one of its great achievements.
"I have a university degree, five years of studying at university, and now I'm dedicated to throwing passes in a motorbike," Ernesto says in front of the camera, with a blend of resignation and honesty that needs no embellishments.
The interviewer asks him if it is very hard. Ernesto replies without hesitation, "It truly is hard." In those four words lies the story of a generation to whom the regime promised a future but delivered a blackout.
The young man studied at the Central University "Marta Abreu" of Las Villas (UCLV) in Santa Clara. Today, instead of practicing his profession, he travels the roads of the province transporting passengers on his motorcycle to make ends meet. However, even that informal job is threatened by the energy crisis that paralyzes Cuba.
"One of the things that worries me the most is the national electricity supply, as it is my livelihood. I make a living driving my motorcycle," explains Ernesto.
The problem is concrete and devastating: with the extensive blackouts, sometimes lasting 40 consecutive hours, he cannot charge his vehicle and loses his only source of income.
"I don't have the means to have a load the other day to be able to do my job. It happens very often," he/she reports.
He got stranded in the middle of the road, far from Santa Clara, unable to proceed, and to make matters worse, in extreme heat. "Every time I go to Remedios, I end up stuck there in Taguayabón. I have to jump into the river to cool off so I can bear it," he says.
The story of Ernesto is no exception. Many Cuban university students turn into informal workers because the State cannot offer them anything better.
A professional with a degree earns between 4,000 and 9,400 Cuban pesos per month, equivalent to just between eight and twenty dollars at the informal exchange rate. A self-employed individual in transportation can generate over 30,000 pesos monthly. The math is striking, and the regime is aware of it.
The official press itself admitted in 2023 that “having a university degree in Cuba means having nothing”.
The Communist Youth acknowledged the "dissatisfaction of higher education graduates" and revealed that approximately 800,000 Cuban youths were neither studying nor working in December 2022, a figure nearly eight times higher than that of 2019.
The energy crisis described by Ernesto reaches historical levels in 2026.
Cuba faces an energy abyss with a generation deficit of up to 1,780 MW. Power outages exceed 24 consecutive hours in Havana and reach up to 50 consecutive hours in provinces like Santiago de Cuba.
The system has completely collapsed seven times in 18 months. Since November 2025, Cuba stopped receiving Venezuelan crude, and in February 2026, Mexico suspended its fuel shipments.
The Minister of Energy himself, Vicente de la O Levy, admitted that Cuba has "absolutely no fuel, no diesel, only associated gas."
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