According to reports, it is facing the worst economic moment in its 67 years of communist revolution.
While the island has experienced episodes of mass migration, food shortages and social unrest over the decades, Cubans have never experienced such a widespread collapse of the social safety net that the country’s leaders — starting with Fidel Castro — were so proud of.
“I, who was born there, who lives there, say: it has never been as bad as it is now, because many factors have come together,” said Omar Everleny Pérez, a 64-year-old economist from Havana.
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While Trump administration officials celebrated a supposed military victory in Venezuela, with the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and American control over the South American country, eyes turned to Cuba, which maintained a close relationship with Maduro and depended on the oil he sent.
“Cuba is going to the ground,” said President Donald Trump on Sunday (4), ruling out the need for military action as he believed the Cuban government would likely collapse on its own.
Odalis Reyes sees with her own eyes the signs of Cuban decadence.
From the window of her small living room, Reyes, a seamstress in Old Havana, observes a reliquary of the country’s obsolete past: the rusting power plant that once supplied energy to her poor neighborhood, on the outskirts of the capital’s tourist area.
Today, it is a constant reminder of the blackouts.
“Yes, many hours without light, many, many — 14, 15 hours,” said Reyes, 56 years old. “That’s scary, because food — which is the hardest thing — you’re afraid of spoiling.”
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“We don’t even know how we’re going to survive anymore,” he added. “We are like human robots, humanoids.”
In recent years, Cubans have complained that monthly food baskets of rice, beans and other food provided by the government only last 10 days. Now, ration cards are practically worthless as food is rarely available in official stores.
To buy gasoline, you must use an app to schedule an appointment — at least three weeks in advance. A Havana resident said he joined the queue three months ago and is now in position 5,052.
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The lack of gasoline caused irregular garbage collection, which led to outbreaks of diseases transmitted by mosquitoes, such as dengue fever and chikungunya. Medicines are almost impossible to find without help from relatives abroad.
The blackouts further aggravated the situation, especially in provinces outside the capital, which can be without power for up to 20 hours a day.
“It’s dark, people are sick and they don’t have medicine,” Pérez said.
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The economic situation in Cuba has always been difficult, especially during the “special period” of the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, which supported the country.
The Cuban government blames its economic suffering on the US trade embargo, which it says stifles its ability to trade on the world market and obtain dollars. Economic sanctions from Republican administrations, which exclude food and medicine, make it even more difficult, officials say.
“Correcting distortions and reviving the economy is not a slogan,” said President Miguel Díaz-Canel last month. “It is a concrete battle for day-to-day stability, so that salaries are sufficient, so that there is food on the table, so that the blackouts end, so that transport works again, so that schools, hospitals and basic services have the quality we deserve.”
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At the end of the third quarter of last year, GDP fell by more than 4%, said the president, inflation soared and deliveries of rationed food were not met.
Díaz-Canel reaffirmed the government’s goals: prioritizing food production and making state companies more efficient.
Experts say the impact of Maduro’s fall on Cuba is still unclear. When Hugo Chávez was president, he sent around 90,000 barrels of oil a day to Cuba. In the last quarter of 2025, Cuba received just 35 thousand.
The lack of energy has harmed industries such as nickel, as factories are idle during blackouts.
Another crucial sector, tourism, has also suffered in recent years. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, 4 million people visited Cuba annually; that number struggles to get back to 2 million, according to economists.
Faced with the difficulties, some advocate more private initiative.
Emilio Interián Rodríguez, Cuban deputy and president of an agricultural cooperative, gave a powerful speech calling for reforms in the countryside and more space for the private sector. He spoke at the National Assembly — where pro-government speech is the norm. According to him, private entrepreneurs have done a better job than state-owned companies.
“Thanks to micro, small and medium-sized companies, today we have more things, and we are achieving results in areas that we had never achieved before”, he stated.
Experts agree that while U.S. policies have harmed Cuba, poor planning and mismanagement are also to blame for the crisis. Attempts to allow private businesses have failed due to burdensome regulations.
Private companies, called MiPyMEs, were legalized in 2021 and have been a relief for Cuba, according to Pérez and other residents.
Some private stores resemble US supermarket chains, with products such as Goya brands and Philadelphia cream cheese.
But the prices are exorbitant, especially for those who earn in local currency. A typical pension is 3,000 pesos, less than $7, while a box of 30 eggs costs 3,600 pesos — about $8.
“There is food, and a lot of it, but the prices are unbelievable,” said Pérez. “Nobody who earns a salary, not even a doctor, can buy from these stores.”
About a third of Cubans receive financial aid from abroad, and some earn dollars in the private sector. But another third, especially retirees, live in poverty, Pérez said.
Difficult conditions led to spontaneous protests in 2021, but a harsh government crackdown quelled them.
Cuba’s financial collapse led to an extraordinary departure: around 2.75 million Cubans have left the country since 2020, according to demographer Juan Carlos Albizu-Campos. Although the official population is 9.7 million, Albizu-Campos believes the real number is 8.25 million.
Some people started cooking with wood. The country produces 25% less energy than in 2019, said Ricardo Torres, a Cuban economist and researcher at American University.
The Cuban economy has fallen three years in a row, he said.
“The domestic economy is in free fall,” said Torres.
Yoan Nazabal, 32, a bartender and taxi driver in Havana, said his wife had a cesarean section six months ago and was shocked by what they had to take to the hospital.
“We had to take our own catheter to the hospital!” he said. “Everyone talks about our healthcare system, which is great and free — and always has been. Our doctors are first-rate. But they don’t have the resources to work.”
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