The Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío acknowledged in the program 60 Minutes from CBS News that the regime has "a lot of responsibility" in the crisis affecting the island, marking one of the most straightforward admissions by a high-ranking Cuban official regarding the government's internal failures.
The journalist Matt Gutman directly asked how much responsibility the Government bears for the country's decline, and Fernández de Cossío responded: “Cuba's unique position is that, in addition to any responsibility the Government has, there is a very powerful external factor that influences the reality of the population. But our Government has a lot of responsibility because there could have been decisions that might have been better.”
The Secretary of State Marco Rubio declined to be interviewed by 60 Minutes, although a spokesperson responded on his behalf: "The failed Cuban regime continues to blame the United States and everyone else for its own incompetence and corruption. They hide billions in bank accounts abroad instead of investing in electricity, infrastructure, and the daily needs of their people."
When asked how he views the end of the impasse with Washington, Fernández de Cossío replied candidly: “With a change of attitude from the United States.”
The Deputy Foreign Minister, one of Cuba's main negotiators with Washington, insisted on highlighting the U.S. embargo as a determining factor, but he could not evade the question about the internal decisions of the regime: the crumbling electrical infrastructure, the insufficient salaries, and the hospitals on the brink of collapse.
The report published this Sunday highlighted the reality of the doctors at the William Soler Pediatric Hospital in Havana.
Doctor Alejandro Chong, head of the Intensive Care Unit, earns more money running a food stall than leading the service that cares for critically ill children.
Chong explained to the CBS team that the seconds between a blackout and the generator coming on can be fatal: “Those few seconds might seem insignificant to someone outside the medical field, but they are precious seconds when it comes to a patient under general anesthesia or on a ventilator.”
When the generators also fail, doctors have had to finish surgeries using the light from their cell phones and manually ventilate patients who rely on electrical equipment.
The Pediatric Surgery resident Lórien Rodríguez also works as a radio host to support herself. "There is less staff, fewer resources, and that makes everything much harder," she stated.
During the visit of the CBS team, a little girl had been waiting for 68 days for a part for an extracorporeal circulation device, which typically has a wait time of only two days.
A two-month-old baby, abandoned and weighing less than 2.3 kilograms due to severe malnutrition, was treated at the same hospital; he died on the Thursday before the report was released due to respiratory complications.
Chong reported that the shortage of specialized infant formulas forces them to improvise: «We have to make do with formulas made from malanga and chicken».
The report also noted that a dozen eggs can cost more than a month's salary for most Cubans, and that in the street markets of Havana, medications are sold on the black market due to the lack of drugs in pharmacies.
Only one oil tanker had arrived in Cuba since early January 2026, according to Cuban officials, which has paralyzed the electrical grid.
The island lost its main supplier of crude oil after the capture of Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces, a blow that worsened the already critical energy situation it had been facing since 2024.
Filed under: