Yudiezka Delaz Quintana, a mother of eight children aged between three and sixteen, residing in Santiago de Cuba, recorded a heart-wrenching testimony that was shared by the opposition group UNPACU through activist José Daniel Ferrer. Her children often go to bed hungry, with four of them suffering from malnutrition. She herself has gone two days without eating to give them the little food she can find.
"My name is Yudiezka Delaz Quintana. I am a mother of eight children, and I'm here to reveal the harsh reality faced by thousands of Cuban mothers. We witness our children crying from hunger because we have no means to feed them," she states at the beginning of her video.
Yudiezka works as a cleaning assistant, but her monthly salary of 2,800 pesos, which is less than five dollars on the informal exchange market, barely covers even the most basic food needs.
"The meager wages we earn are insufficient even for poor nourishment. Not to mention medical care; there are no medicines available, neither in pharmacies nor hospitals," she laments.
The situation for her school-aged children is no better. Those attending the Abel Santamaría boarding school were once served three slices of cucumber as lunch, and several have stopped going to classes because they leave home without breakfast or snacks.
"My kids are at the Abel Santamaría boarding school, and a few days ago, all they got were three tiny slices of cucumber. They aren't being provided with the lunch they need," she recounts.
Her youngest child is still breastfeeding, as it's the only way she can feed her: "It's hard, so hard and painful, as a mother, to see your child crying for food and not be able to give them any. Thankfully, she still breastfeeds, and I spend the entire day nursing her to keep her sustained."
On top of the food shortages, there are power outages lasting up to 36 hours continuously—some areas of the country recently experienced over 90 hours without electricity—and a complete lack of medicines in both pharmacies and hospitals.
Yudiezka also reports that the regime denied her the food package meant for underweight individuals and those for children aged zero to four years. "Right now, they send modules to the store and decide who they will give them to... they want to control your life," she criticizes.
This system, reformed in June 2026, replaced universal subsidies with targeted aid for individuals classified as "vulnerable" by local community groups, leading to complaints of arbitrariness and exclusion. In Santiago de Cuba, authorities admit that more than 10% of the provincial population requires emergency food assistance.
Yudiezka's story is not an isolated case. According to the IX Report of the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights, published in August 2026 and based on over 1,300 interviews across 79 municipalities, 94% of Cubans live in extreme poverty, up from 61% just four years ago. Eight out of ten people have had to skip a meal due to lack of money or food.
The Cuban regime blames this situation on U.S. sanctions, yet data indicate a structural decline accumulated over nearly 67 years of communist dictatorship, which eradicated economic freedom, banned free enterprise, and placed the production and distribution of food under total state control.
UNPACU, which once provided meals to more than 1,200 people daily in Santiago de Cuba, has faced systematic repression, including police cordons, confiscations, and arrests of activists. Recently, authorities attempted to arrest a member of the organization for distributing food without "legal authorization."
"I work; I'm a working mother. My salary should be enough for me and to feed my family, but it doesn't even suffice for poor nourishment," Yudiezka concludes, capturing the inescapable contradiction of a system that promised equality but delivered only misery.
Understanding the Crisis in Cuba
What challenges does Yudiezka Delaz Quintana face?
Yudiezka Delaz Quintana faces severe economic hardship, with insufficient income to properly feed her eight children, lack of access to medical care and essential medications, and frequent power outages.
How does the Cuban government respond to the food crisis?
The Cuban government attributes the food crisis to U.S. sanctions, but critics argue that it's due to long-standing structural issues resulting from decades of communist rule, which centralized food production and distribution.
What has been the impact of the economic reforms in Cuba?
The economic reforms in Cuba have shifted from universal subsidies to targeted aid, which has led to accusations of unfairness and exclusion, as many vulnerable individuals still lack access to necessary resources.