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The Cuban photographer and entrepreneur Mikely Arencibia Pantoja published a reflection on Facebook this week that offers a stark description of what it means to survive another day in Cuba, accompanied by a warning that encapsulates the discontent of an entire generation.
Under the title "Surviving 24 Hours in Cuba", Arencibia, a resident of Pinar del Río, begins with a statement that many recognize as their own: "There is something that very few peoples in the world have learned to do like Cubans: survive for 24 more hours. Because here, many times, the goal is not to progress; the goal is to make it to tomorrow."
The author describes the Cuban as a "professional manager of scarcity," someone who juggles a salary that is not enough and, moreover, "cannot withdraw from the magnetic card all at once, because banks exist but have no money."
The image accompanying the post illustrates it without words: a blackened aluminum pot cooking over live fire, supported by makeshift construction rods, against a cracked cement wall. This is not a scene from the past: it is the kitchen of millions of Cubans in 2026, when blackouts reach between 20 and 40 hours a day in various provinces.
Arencibia precisely enumerates the survival strategies that Cubans have normalized: turning a meal for three into one for five, repairing a fan ten times before replacing it, extending the life of a pair of shoes for years, and saving an empty bottle or a piece of wire because, as he writes, "throwing something away can be a luxury."
The text also portrays the first question that many Cubans ask themselves upon waking: not "What am I going to achieve today?", but "How do I get bread? How and with what do I cook? How do I get to work? How do I help my family?". This reversal of priorities—from aspiration to mere survival—is the core of their reflection.
But Arencibia does not stop at admiration. His warning is direct: "Be very careful because we cannot confuse the ability to survive with quality of life. One thing is to admire people's creativity, and another very different thing is to get used to living as a constant struggle."
The context surrounding these words is striking. The Cuban GDP has accumulated a 26% decline since 2020, with an additional projected contraction of 6.5% this year. The average state salary is around 6,830 pesos per month —about 15 dollars— while the basic cost of living per capita exceeds 50,000 pesos per month. An onion can cost 900 pesos, nearly a third of the minimum salary for many state workers.
The banking system exacerbates the situation: the Metropolitan Bank has reduced the withdrawal limit to 3,000 pesos, and the EFE agency reported in April that people were waiting in lines for four to six hours at Havana banks just to access their own money. The banking crisis that the government promised to resolve still shows no signs of a solution.
In that dreadful scenario, Arencibia concluded his analysis with the following: "Our true goal should be to live, make plans, and build a future, allowing time to focus, enjoy, socialize, and grow."
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