Cuban Priest Blames Regime for "Silent Genocide" Amid Nation's Collapse

Cuban Catholic priest Alberto Reyes Pías has spoken out against the severe healthcare crisis plaguing Cuba, labeling the dire situation a "silent genocide" due to deaths resulting from the lack of essential medications. In an interview three months ago with the YouTube channel El Mundo de Darwin, hosted by Darwin Santana, the priest stated, "People are hungry. People have no medicine. I say that in Cuba, at this moment, there is a silent genocide. People are dying. Why are they dying? Because where does it say in the press that someone died due to a lack of antibiotics?"

Throughout the conversation, Reyes shared firsthand accounts from his pastoral work: "I mentioned in a recent interview about a man I met in one of the villages who told me his only child, a 14-year-old, suffered a sprained foot with an open wound, got infected, and died because there was no antibiotic. Your only child, 14 years old..."

He also recounted a situation he witnessed at his parish: "I've had a father searching for an anticonvulsant because his two-year-old son has seizures. The child started convulsing, and when taken to the hospital, they were told 'there's nothing.' So, what do you do when your two-year-old is convulsing, and all you can do is hold them because there's nothing available?"

According to the priest, many of these deaths go unrecorded and unnoticed by the media: "So, in Cuba... people are dying, and no one knows because it's not news. Therefore, one cannot remain silent. Those who know cannot stay quiet because it is evident."

The full interview is accessible on the YouTube channel El Mundo de Darwin, titled "Canel is Challenged by a Priest. The Cuban Dictatorship is in Internal Crisis."

Healthcare System on the Brink of Collapse

Father Reyes's statements resonate strongly amid growing social concern and a collapsing healthcare system in several Cuban provinces, where viruses such as dengue, chikungunya, Oropouche fever, and digestive diseases are spreading.

In Matanzas province, historian and activist Alina Bárbara López Hernández accused authorities of manipulating information about the epidemic and said there is an explicit directive to deny deaths from arboviruses.

In Santiago de Cuba, health officials confirmed a rise in digestive diseases and arboviruses due to the proliferation of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, a lack of potable water, and accumulating garbage.

In Camagüey, an internal health system message confirmed cases of chikungunya and the possible circulation of the Oropouche virus, though the government remains officially silent about the increase in febrile cases.

In Holguín, public health authorities acknowledged that dengue serotype four and chikungunya affect nearly all municipalities, though they have not declared active transmission.

In Villa Clara, following a rise in arbovirus cases, authorities reactivated an emergency health plan with fumigations, cleanup efforts, and mobilization of state resources.

Despite citizen reports, medical statements, and visible hospital collapses, the Ministry of Public Health continues to deny any fatalities or healthcare system breakdowns, fueling public outrage over the lack of transparency and institutional neglect.

The allegations made by Father Alberto Reyes Pías and figures like Alina Bárbara López bring to light a national crisis that the regime attempts to downplay, while increasing numbers of Cubans face illness and death in silence.