A Havana mother identified as Ani Vázquez posted in the Facebook group “Cuban Fighting Mothers 2” an announcement that captures, in few words, the desperation of thousands of Cuban families: “I am selling my induction stove brand Unisuki at a good price, I need to sell it quickly, I have no milk for my child.”
Vázquez resides in Luyanó Moderno, in the San Miguel neighborhood, and set the price of the portable kitchen at 12,000 Cuban pesos, willing to negotiate it based on the buyer.
A neighbor from the Camilo Cienfuegos neighborhood, Yaquelin López, offered her a small bag of milk and asked her not to sell the appliance.
The response from Ani was straightforward: "Mima, thank you very much, but I have no choice. May God bless your good heart."
When another user suggested that she look for something less essential to sell, Ani responded with a phrase that encapsulates the reality of many Cuban households: "It's not easy in this country, no wallet can withstand it".
The case is not exceptional. In the comments of the same post, other mothers shared similar situations.
A user was selling a brand new Reina pot in its box for 45 dollars or the equivalent in national currency, because, as she wrote, she had "nothing left to feed my children."
Iriannis Álvarez went further: «I even sold my hair, I have sold my clothes, equipment, I don't know what else to do, oh my God».
Maisu Unquid summarized it like this: "This is how many mothers are selling everything for their children."
Lucero Miel Canela summed up in the comments what many do not dare to say out loud: «This is how all the mothers who do not receive remittances feel».
Ani herself described the collective mood: «We have a level of desperation that it's unclear where our nerves are going to end up».
The episode is set against the backdrop of a crisis in the supply of infant formula that the regime itself has acknowledged as severe.
The Minister of Food Industry, Alberto López Díaz, admitted in June that more than 100,000 children do not receive their daily ration of milk, and that the official plan — powdered milk for 331,000 minors and liquid milk for another 200,000 — is impossible to fulfill.
The state claims to provide milk exclusively to 15,026 children with chronic illnesses and to over 16,000 pregnant women.
The rest is left to the mercy of the informal market, where half a kilogram of powdered milk reached a price of 2,333 Cuban pesos in May, according to data from ONEI.
National milk production has dropped by 65% over the past five years, and in 2025, Cuba received only 30% of the powdered milk planned for import.
In Matanzas, authorities acknowledged interruptions lasting weeks in distribution due to a lack of fuel, while in Guantánamo, the energy crisis forced the distribution of unpasteurized milk and extended the delivery cycle from three to four days for children aged two to six.
The pattern of selling appliances to buy basic food items is recurring in Cuba. In June, a father in Santiago de Cuba was selling electrical outlets to buy spaghetti for his four children.
Similarly, in 2024, another mother sold her television and appliances —"the only valuable things"— to feed her daughters with a pension of 3,492 pesos.
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