The Cuban activist Lara Crofs —whose real name is Yamilka Lafita— stated this Saturday on Facebook that funeral services in Cuba have reached a breaking point, where the right to a dignified burial depends on who can pay or the connections one has.
The post arrived soon after Crofs herself announced that her father had passed away and that she learned of it late due to a blackout lasting more than 40 hours and the lack of telecommunications coverage.
"I couldn't even find out in time that my father had died. In the midst of this darkness, they also rob us of something as fundamental as the right to receive such news when it happens," he wrote on Saturday, describing the blend of pain, helplessness, and anger that the situation caused him.
In the following post, Crofs expanded his criticism of the system as a whole: "The necrological services in Cuba are completely collapsed, and even death seems to have become a privilege for those who can afford it. What little is available is caught in a grim chain of bribes, favors, contacts, and the trafficking of needs, where a family's pain becomes a commodity and the corpse of a loved one becomes a bargaining chip."
The activist went beyond the personal case to highlight what she considers a civilizational degradation: "We are witnessing the most brutal degradation of a society when even in the face of death, human desperation is exploited for profit. A system that turns the final farewell into a business of bribes is a society that has had even the dignity of dying ripped away from it."
Dozens of Cubans responded, confirming similar experiences. "All services are collapsed; profiting from illness and death is something abhorrent," one wrote. Another noted that "the worst destruction here is not material." A third person was more direct: "Dying here is a horror; I experienced it two days ago with a neighbor who is almost like a brother to me." Several agreed that the problem is not recent: "This has been happening for years, it's not something that just started."
The collapse described by Crofs is documented in multiple provinces. In February 2026, a family in Holguín had to improvise a cardboard coffin due to the lack of coffins. Testimonials collected by independent media indicate that, without informal payments of thousands of pesos, the delivery of a coffin in several provinces can be significantly delayed.
In Las Tunas, state burials at the Vicente García cemetery were suspended in April due to a collapse that the authorities themselves have acknowledged has been unresolved for eight years. In Santiago de Cuba, authorities removed the body of a man three days after his death from his own home.
The energy context exacerbates everything. On September 18, Cuba experienced its eighth nationwide blackout of the year, with a complete disconnection of the National Electroenergetic System that left more than nine million people without electricity for about 32 hours and caused the collapse of over 80% of telecommunications radio bases.
It was in that context of darkness and isolation that Crofs learned, with hours of delay, of his father's death.
The regime has attempted to alleviate the crisis with specific measures —the incorporation of electric vehicles in Havana and the importation of hearses from China— but reports agree that these actions are insufficient in the face of a structural deterioration that has accumulated over the years without a real response.
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