DistantNews
Support us
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Culture & Society

Ninety-four percent of Cubans live in extreme poverty, human rights group says

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • The Cuban Observatory for Human Rights says 94% of Cubans lived in extreme poverty in 2026, up from 89% in 2025.
  • Based on 1,318 interviews, the report identifies blackouts, food shortages, living costs, health care, wages and insecurity as the main social concerns.
  • Most respondents viewed the government’s management negatively and called for simultaneous political and economic changes.

The Cuban Observatory for Human Rights says 94% of Cubans live in extreme poverty, while eight in 10 have gone without at least one daily meal over the past year because food was unavailable or unaffordable.

The figures come from the group’s report, “The State of Social Rights in Cuba,” presented Monday in Madrid. It draws on 1,318 interviews with residents of Cuba conducted in July. The report says the share of people living in extreme poverty rose from 89% in 2025, using World Bank standards.

The impoverishment of Cuban families is growing.

· Yaxys CiresThe OCDH strategy director described the report’s findings on worsening poverty.

Blackouts ranked as the issue Cubans most urgently want addressed, followed by the food crisis, the cost of living, health care, wages and insecurity. Yaxys Cires, the observatory’s director of strategy, said insecurity’s sixth-place ranking showed that Cuba, traditionally considered a safe country, “is deteriorating at every level.”

Housing also featured prominently. Nearly half of the homes occupied by respondents need repairs, including 25% requiring urgent work and 7% considered at risk of collapse. The report said the problem particularly affects older people. Respondents also highlighted the electricity system, garbage collection, telephone and internet services, sewage and medicine.

is deteriorating at every level

· Yaxys CiresCires discussed the significance of insecurity ranking among Cuba’s leading social concerns.

Bladimir Navarro, a Cuban priest who leads the Proyecto Cobijo initiative in Madrid, said the prominence of health care was significant because “the regime used to boast that it was a model in health and education, but it is not.” OCDH doctor Daily Coro Bueno said essential medicines faced a shortage of between 40% and 60%.

Ninety-five percent of respondents rated the government’s performance negatively or very negatively. Eighty-four percent said they did not trust the economic measures implemented so far, while more than three-quarters wanted political and economic changes at the same time. Half expected a favorable change within six months, although the report said this apparently did not stem from government measures.

the regime used to boast that it was a model in health and education, but it is not

· Bladimir NavarroThe Cuban priest commented on health care becoming a leading concern in the survey.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog