Socialism in Cuba: 88% of Cubans are living in extreme poverty

Fidel Castro’s socialist revolution in 1959 promised Cubans they would live better and have more abundance than any capitalist country. 64 years later, nearly 90% of the population in Cuba is living in extreme poverty.

Via Diario de Cuba (my translation):

Cuban Observatory of Human Rights: 88% of Cubans live in extreme poverty

The Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH) says that almost 90% of Cubans live in extreme poverty, a 13% increase from 2022, according to the results of its Sixth Report on the State of Social Rights in Cuba.

Analyzing the total income of Cubans, and following the guideline of 1.90 dollars per day to determine the poverty threshold for a household of three members, 88% of Cubans live in extreme poverty, according to the study by the OCDH.

The Observatory also points out that both the food crisis and inflation “have impacted the economy of the majority of households in the last year.”

The research conducted by OCDH, which included 1,354 personal interviews in 75 municipalities across all provinces of Cuba, confirms “the gravity” of social rights on the island, “due to the structural and accumulated crises and the lack of political will on the part of the authorities” to make the changes the country needs. The survey was conducted between July 12 and August 7, 2023.

The same study indicates that concern about the food crisis has risen five points compared to the previous year, reaching 70%, followed by issues such as wages (50%) and inflation (34%). The results also indicate “a deterioration” in the services provided by the Cuban Public Health system.

Almost nine out of ten Cubans (86%) are critical of the economic and social management of the Government, according to the OCDH. Similarly, 68% of citizens view the Government’s performance as “very negative” (17 points higher than the previous year).

Other results of the research conducted by the Observatory indicate that “a majority” of Cuban citizens (over 80%) believe public investment in education, housing, agriculture and food, and public health and hospitals “is insufficient” (in food and health issues it exceeds 90%).

For example, according to the study, 15% of the population has taken expired medicines and 32% of those surveyed who needed medicines couldn’t obtain them, either due to their cost (12%) or their scarcity (20%). “Those who obtained medications did so through churches or charitable organizations, through relatives abroad, or through other means. Only 6% purchased them from the health system’s pharmacies,” the report specifies.

The Observatory’s survey also revealed that 62% of the respondents “have problems even buying the most essential things to survive,” 11 percentage points higher than what was recorded in the report from the previous year. Almost half of the respondents (48%) stated that they had stopped eating due to lack of money or resources to acquire food.

2 thoughts on “Socialism in Cuba: 88% of Cubans are living in extreme poverty”

  1. The “revolution” promised everything under the sun and now can’t even provide enough sugar for Cubans. Of course, Cubans should have known that what sounds too good to be true usually is.

  2. A psychologist would say that doing the same thing for 63 years and expecting a different outcome is by definition a sign of insanity.

    A military man would say that 10% of the population is for the revolution and 90% are against. Since we know that very few of the one million communist forces are properly armed, the nine million oppressed and exploited have the upper hand with a nine to one advantage. Much better odds than those fighting in the Ukraine war.

    A communist would say that the revolution is working but we still need to make the 12% as poor and miserable as the rest of the population. Come on Raul, come on Gil, come on Miguel, come on Tamara get with the program. You know that communism is like Christianity and that faith without works is dead. Inequality offends the communist gods in hell. WE ALL need to be equal under socialism. Do not stop now when we are getting so close to real communism!

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