Cuba: 67 Years of Unfulfilled Promises

On October 2, 2026, the Prime Minister of the Cuban communist regime, Manuel Marrero Cruz, stated that they were convinced that by 2027, the results of the 176 economic and social transformations approved in June of this year would start to be evident. Marrero commented: "We already have the path open to move forward; in fact, we are making progress and results are already noticeable, although the improvement in the quality of life of the population has not yet been perceived."

Do you believe him? Well, I don't. And I have more than enough reasons not to believe him. The history of the last 67 years is filled with promises of prosperity, abundance, and well-being that the Cuban communist leaders have never managed to fulfill. Let’s recall a few, in chronological order.

Since coming to power in 1959, Fidel Castro promised to transform Cuba into an extraordinarily developed, productive, and prosperous nation. Milk, meat, eggs, sugar, housing, industries, and transportation would flourish thanks to the socialist revolution.

In the 1960s, a remarkable transformation in livestock was announced. By 1970, according to the projections released at the time, Cuba was expected to have eight million dairy cows and produce thirty million liters of milk daily. It was even suggested that we would surpass the Netherlands in milk production and France in cheese. Cuba was set to become a global dairy powerhouse! Today, a kilogram of powdered milk costs more in Cuba than the salaries and pensions of thousands of Cubans.

He also promised extraordinary increases in the production of beef, eggs, and other foods, until there were exportable surpluses. In his speech on January 2, 1965, he stated that that year there would be more milk, meat, and eggs produced. Abundance was supposedly just around the corner.

On December 22, 1967, during the III Congress of the National Association of Small Farmers, Fidel Castro announced that, starting in 1970, Cuba would build 100,000 houses annually, which would be given away for free to those in need. Within ten years, one million families would have new homes.

The promise was never fulfilled on that scale. Today, thousands of families suffer from the deterioration of their homes, while numerous buildings are at risk of collapsing. The housing deficit, according to official data from 2025, stands at 805,583 homes, of which 407,219 need to be constructed and 398,364 require rehabilitation.

Major infrastructure projects were also announced: roads, highways, railway modernization, industrial development, and transformation of transportation. Several of the most important works were started but remained unfinished, while the railway system and much of public transport fell into alarming deterioration.

One of the most spectacular promises: the ten million ton sugar harvest of 1970.

Fidel Castro mobilized hundreds of thousands of Cubans, subordinated vast economic resources to that goal, and presented the ten million as an inevitable great victory. However, production reached only about 8.5 million tons.

And what a contrast with the present!

According to the known data from the 2024-2025 sugar harvest, Cuba produced around 140,000 tons of sugar, less than one-sixtieth of the crop from 1970. A nation that used to export millions of tons now has to import sugar because it cannot even ensure its internal consumption.

Sugar, once a symbol of Cuban wealth, has become a luxury, almost as inaccessible as a diamond for many Cuban families!

In 1990, Fidel Castro announced plans to increase annual egg production by 700 million units through the construction of 1,800 poultry houses. Another promise of abundance that stands in stark contrast to the current scarcity. Today, an egg costs between 140 and 300 pesos. Thirty units exceed the minimum wage.

On December 23, 2005, Fidel Castro stated that by mid-2006, electricity would be in surplus in Cuba. “We will have four times the capacity that we are going to need.” Currently, the daily electricity deficit exceeds 60%. Today, it will reach 74.5% during peak hours.

For decades, there were food plans, agricultural programs, productive campaigns, agricultural experiments, and industrial projects. Some yielded partial results; too many ended in waste, inefficiency, and frustration.

Then Raúl Castro arrived. Another liar.

On July 26, 2007, during his speech in Camagüey, he promised to boost milk production to overcome the limitation that primarily reserved subsidized supplies for small children. His goal was for all Cubans to have access to a glass of milk.

Almost twenty years later, for countless Cuban families, getting that glass of milk every day remains a true odyssey.

Raúl Castro also spoke about economic reforms, the elimination of absurd prohibitions, an increase in productivity, the updating of the socialist model, and prosperity. The Guidelines approved in 2011 promised to transform the economy. However, the reforms were insufficient to resolve its serious structural issues, and misery continued to grow in the once-prosperous island of Cuba.

And then Miguel Díaz-Canel appeared with new promises of continuity, efficiency, creative resistance, and socialist prosperity.

In May 2020, he recommended increasing the production of juices, guarapo, lemonade, and pizza dough. His famous statement that “lemonade is the foundation of everything” sparked a wave of mockery among Cubans.

What an irony! Today, not even lemonade is within reach for many citizens, because sugar is scarce and extremely expensive, and obtaining lemons is also not easy for everyone. Neither the pizza recommended by the dictator nor a humble glass of guarapo are affordable products for thousands of needy families.

In January 2021, the so-called Ordering Task was initiated, presented as a tool to improve economic functioning. Its consequences included significant monetary imbalances, inflation, and a considerable loss of purchasing power.

Then came new promises of productive recovery, food sovereignty, macroeconomic stabilization, resolution of power outages, and improvement of living standards.

Meanwhile, Cuba continued to suffer from shortages, inflation, power outages, agricultural ruin, deterioration of public services, and a permanent mass emigration.

Now Marrero Cruz wants us to believe that in 2027 we will start reaping the benefits of another 176 transformations.

Once again, prosperity postponed until next year! Once again, the well-being promised for a future that never arrives!

For more than six decades, those in power in Cuba have demanded sacrifices in the name of a brighter tomorrow. Entire generations have grown old waiting for an abundance that never arrived. Today, thousands of elderly individuals and children suffer from malnutrition while the charlatans who have made so many promises live in luxury.

Cubans no longer need false promises. We need economic and political freedom, legal security, respect for property, democratic institutions, and opportunities for everyone to work, produce, invest, and thrive.

After so many unfulfilled promises, so many failed experiments, and so many sacrificed generations, only one question remains: Who can believe, at this point, that the inept, incompetent, and corrupt individuals of always will pull Cuba out of the abyss into which they themselves have plunged it?