Diario de Cuba opened this article with the following words, “2024 is coming to an end, a terrible year for Cuba and Cubans. Hunger, blackouts, repression, corruption and the government’s battle against private initiatives have characterized this period, with no signs that the situation will improve in 2025.” The newsletter then published the following opinions on Cuba’s current predicaments from four of its prominent Cuban journalists.[1]
Luz Escobar says, “Cubans feel that every year that passes is another downward slope. In other words, one more step in the debacle that is being experienced. Without a doubt, it was worse than 2023. Many Cubans have come to the conclusion that it is even worse than the Special Period, the closest reference we have in terms of crises,”
He “reminded Cubans imprisoned for expressing themselves on social media or demonstrating peacefully: ‘Citizen protests have marked the increase in political prisoners. And something that Prisoners Defenders points out, which is very interesting, is that many of those who are receiving sentences in Cuba do not even belong to the opposition.’”
“’Regarding the lack of solidarity from Spain, the European Union and Latin America,’ Escobar said it was ‘disappointing and outrageous.’”
“’What is happening has to do with the narrative that Fidel Castro created at the time, which has allowed many to hide behind the romanticization of the Cuban revolution, in order to then allow themselves the luxury of putting buts on the reality of Cuba, hunger, repression; something they do not do with other realities, such as Nicaragua, Venezuela, Ukraine, to give three examples’”
Náyare Menoyo recalled that Cubans cannot even guarantee three meals a day. “And that is an economic situation, but in the long run it will be a public health situation, a mental health situation, etc. The economy, which should be the basis of any society, is screwed. Where will that end up? I don’t know, but 2024 has been quite sinister in that sense,”
She “referred to the migration crisis, which, in addition to the general population, has also affected artists, athletes and other professionals: ‘Artists have decided that their future or project is not in Cuba. They are going to the US, to Spain, to the rest of Latin America. The crisis is so big that dividing it into sectors no longer makes almost any sense. Wherever you look, everything is bad.’”
“Osmel Ramírez [from Holguin] predicted a 2025 “much more complex in Cuba, much more difficult, with more vicissitudes, if that is possible. Everything seems to indicate that the Communist Party can turn the screw again, a screw that seems infinite. People are going through a very deep crisis and, even so, in the midst of this situation, the Government dares to attack the private sector, which is like the lifeline.”
“Jorge Enrique Rodríguez, from Havana, said that in 2025 ‘the Cuban regime is going to have a very difficult fight,’ because ‘the population has more information every day, and automatically has more awareness of what a political prisoner is, something that was unthinkable ten years ago. We have seen ridiculous laws, such as legalizing blackouts or banning MSMEs, which has been classified as political suicide. I think that 2025 will bring more changes and guidelines that will create tensions. I am not saying victories or defeats, but tensions.”
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[1] Suarez, 2024, a terrible year for Cuba and Cubans, Diario de Cuba (Dec. 25, 2024).
