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Sister Nadieska Almeida, Superior of the Daughters of Charity in Cuba, published a powerful reflection on titled "They are of hard neck," in direct response to the package of 176 economic measures approved by the National Assembly.
The text, shared by Father Kenny Fernández Delgado, questions why the regime has reauthorized activities that it itself suppressed, persecuted, and for which it even imprisoned citizens who saw them as an opportunity for prosperity.
"We return to the vicious cycle of rectifications and promises. We return to the language of resistance and 'yes, we can', because now we can go for more, and we continue to build socialism," wrote the religious figure, labeling the official discourse accompanying the reforms as hypocritical.
Sister Nadieska points directly to the underlying contradiction: to seek an economic opening without abandoning the totalitarian political system that supports it.
"They cling to something that doesn't work, even while recognizing that it is a failed system. (...) They are accustomed to thinking and deciding for us. No one with a differing opinion can approach to dissent; this is one of their greatest mistakes, the inability to engage in dialogue with differences," he noted.
The nun challenges the regime with a question that encapsulates the exhaustion of the population: "Do you not see that an entire people is paying the price for all your measures and decisions, which you must continuously correct because none of them are valid?"
Her description of the Cuban reality is devastating: "Look at the faces of the people, pause on the physical and mental deterioration of an entire nation, listen to the cries of desperation from our mothers for their children, come closer to the bars that imprison those whose desire for freedom has overpowered their fear."
The 176 measures from the regime were described by the U.S. Department of State as "superficial smoke signals," dismissing any notion that they represent a real structural change.
Sister Nadieska rejects the logic of temporary fixes and accuses the government of neither wanting nor being able to ensure a new way of life for the Cuban people.
"Many of us have expressed that we want new changes, but without you. (...) We don’t want patches; we want new clothes with new fabrics. We are tired of trial and error, let them experiment with us," he stated.
Finally, the religious figure raises her voice with a demand that leaves no room for ambiguity: "Leave, show respect for this weary and tormented people. It has already been more than enough. The suffering you have inflicted on us must come to an end."
Sister Nadieska's voice joins a growing ecclesiastical chorus that is increasingly critical of the new economic measures approved by the regime.
The priest Alberto Reyes stated that "the solution is not in liberating the economy, but in liberating the citizen," and the archbishop of Santiago de Cuba warned this Sunday that those who "believe they have the right to do anything for the sake of power" cause harm.
In January, the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba called for "urgent changes" and structural reforms in political, social, and economic areas to prevent an outbreak of violence.
It is not the first time that Sor Nadieska has raised her voice with such conviction. In her call in March 2025, she denounced the suffering of mothers without food, political prisoners, and the sick without medication, and in December of that same year, she pointed to the totalitarian system as responsible for the moral and social deterioration of the Island.
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