Cuban mothers have raised their voices on social media to describe the summer of 2026 as the hardest they have ever experienced, marked by a devastating combination of historic blackouts, extreme heat, food shortages, and unaffordable prices that have hit households with young children particularly hard.
A post in the "Cuban Fighting Mothers" group garnered hundreds of reactions and comments in just a few days, almost all from women who reached the same conclusion: "This summer was an odyssey with power outages, water issues, and food shortages, beyond words."
Another user summed it up in two words: "Sure, without options."
The backdrop is an unprecedented electricity crisis, compounded by a collapse in supply. The Minister of Food Industry himself admitted in June that during the year, they were unable to distribute oil, chicken, or yogurt through the rationing system. In August, the price of a liter of oil reached between 3,000 and 7,000 Cuban pesos and a carton of 30 eggs cost between 3,000 and 4,000 pesos. Yordelis Aliaga Tamayo, from Alquízar, stated bluntly: "We're going to end up eating grass."
With the start of the 2026-2027 school year set for September 1, several mothers warned that they would not send their children to classes if there was no electricity, clean drinking water, or guaranteed food in the schools.
The children's phrases became the most painful symbol of the summer: "Mom, I'm bored" and "Mom, I'm hungry," repeated over and over during a vacation with no light and no options. Dayana García summed it up with bitter irony: "We have the Guinness record for endurance."
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