A Cuban mother visited several small and medium enterprises in Matanzas in search of milk for her child and documented in a video posted on Facebook the prices she found: 6,500 pesos in a store in the Versalles neighborhood and 4,500 pesos in another establishment where she was finally able to purchase it.
"Now we can't even drink milk here in Cuba. Poor children who need it so much," said Brianna Rodríguez in the clip.
The woman was direct in describing her experience: "A carton of milk cost me 6,500 pesos. Honestly, I can tell you that the money I had was not enough."
Rodríguez clarified that he did not record the video to elicit pity, but rather to showcase the daily reality of Cuban families.
"I tell you this not to evoke pity or to lament misery, but so you can see the situation that Cubans face day after day," he pointed out. His conclusion was emphatic: "A person who lives off their salary cannot survive," he emphasized.
The documented prices are devastating compared to the actual income of the population: a single bag of milk costs more than the minimum wage of 3,210 pesos per month, which has been in effect since July.
On Sunday, a mother from Havana, Ani Vázquez, from the Luyanó Moderno neighborhood, posted on Facebook that she was selling her induction stove for 12,000 pesos because she did not have milk for her son.
The pattern of parting with appliances and belongings to afford basic food has become an emergency resource for many Cubans, who then document their harsh reality on social media.
In the comments on Rodríguez's video, a user captured the general sentiment: "Life, this is not life, with all the products at such high prices and no one stopping this increase, as everyone sets their own price."
The crisis has structural roots. Between 2018 and 2023, national milk production dropped by 58% and powdered milk imports decreased by 71%, according to data from the World Food Programme.
The Minister of Food Industry, Alberto López Díaz, acknowledged in June that over 100,000 children do not receive their daily milk ration.
The plan aims to provide powdered milk to 331,000 children and fluid milk to another 200,000, but none of these targets were being met.
Despite the widespread shortages, the State claims that it guarantees milk to 15,026 children with chronic illnesses and to more than 16,000 pregnant women.
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