A person checks a garbage container, looking for food, in Havana last summer. File Photo by Ernesto Mastrascusa/EPA
Aug. 13 (UPI) — Extreme poverty affects 94% of Cubans, and eight in 10 have been forced to skip a meal because of a lack of money or food, according to a study released Thursday as Cuba marks the 100th anniversary of Fidel Castro‘s birth.
The Ninth Study on Social Rights in Cuba, conducted by the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights, also found that 95% of respondents negatively assess the government’s economic and social management, three percentage points higher than the previous year.
The report is based on 1,318 interviews conducted between June 27 and July 29 in 79 municipalities across all Cuban provinces and the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud. The organization said it used a sample stratified by place of residence, sex, age and racial group.
According to the study, 68% of households surveyed reported monthly incomes of less than 20,000 Cuban pesos, equivalent to about $30 at the exchange rate used by the organization.
To calculate extreme poverty, the observatory compared households’ reported income with the value of the dollar over the previous six months and used a personal daily income of less than $1.90 as a benchmark. Based on that calculation, it determined that a three-person household would need income equivalent to $171 a month to rise above that threshold.
Food insecurity is one of the main signs of deterioration recorded by the study. Eight in 10 respondents said they had skipped breakfast, lunch or dinner because of a lack of money or food shortages, compared with seven in 10 in the previous year’s survey.
Another 63% said they had difficulty purchasing even the most essential goods, while 30% said their income allowed them to cover only basic needs. Just 6% said they could make purchases beyond essential items.
Power outages top the concerns of Cubans surveyed. Seventy percent identified them as a priority problem that needs to be addressed, followed by the food crisis at 52%; the cost of living, 45%; public health and access to medicines, 34%; wages, 27%; and crime and violence, 24%.
The study also found widespread distrust of the government’s economic measures. Eighty-four percent of participants said they do not expect the latest measures announced by Havana to improve the economic situation, while 6% believe they will have a positive effect.
“These results demonstrate the political and economic exhaustion of the Cuban regime,” said Yaxys Cires, the Observatory’s director of strategies.
According to Cires, the elderly and people with chronic illnesses are among those bearing the brunt of deteriorating economic conditions.
The figures were released to coincide with the centennial of the birth of Fidel Castro, who was born Aug. 13, 1926, in Birán, eastern Cuba, and led the revolution that overthrew the government of Fulgencio Batista in 1959.
Castro ruled Cuba for nearly five decades before transferring power to his brother, Raúl, because of health problems. He died in 2016 at age 90.
The Cuban government declared 2026 the “Year of the Centennial of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz” and organized exhibitions, conferences, concerts and other events to commemorate his birth.
Among the activities is the International Colloquium “Fidel: Legacy and Future,” held Aug. 10-13 at Havana’s Palace of Conventions. The gathering was convened to address Castro’s career, political thought and international influence, Granma reported.
The observatory’s survey also reflects problems with housing and infrastructure. Only 18% of respondents said they live in a home in good condition, while 47% said their homes need repairs, 25% said they need urgent repairs and 7% said their homes are at risk of collapse.
Electricity was the worst-rated infrastructure, with 95% of respondents describing its condition as poor. Eighty-two percent gave the same assessment to hospitals and healthcare facilities, while 84% rated water supply and sewer systems as poor.
