A grandmother from Santiago de Cuba has become a poignant symbol of the island's collective suffering after a video surfaced on Facebook. The footage captures her welcoming a roughly nine-year-old boy who showed up at her doorstep, alone and asking for food, as he hadn't eaten all day.
"He came by himself, asking for something to eat because he hasn't had a meal today," the woman recounts, her voice trembling with emotion. This heart-wrenching scene unfolded on Mother's Day 2026, a day that brought not celebration, but hunger, to thousands of Cuban families.
"It breaks my heart, but yes, we'll give him food. We're fortunate to still have breakfast, lunch, and dinner at my home. But how many poor children have nothing at all?" she questions, as she swiftly prepares the child a meal of milk with pudding, crackers, and beans with tomatoes.
"We'll give him milk, crackers, beans with tomato, and shower him with love," she adds, fighting back tears.
The video was shared by Father Leandro NaunHung, who accompanied the images with a somber reflection: "I think with pain and helplessness about the thousands of Cuban mothers and grandmothers who today will have neither gifts nor a meal to offer their children and grandchildren."
This story is not unique. On April 5, Cuban Yai Savon recorded a similar moment when two children knocked on her door asking for "a stale piece of bread, a banana, anything." And on April 25, another case circulated of a girl named Ariana, showing clear signs of severe malnutrition.
Statistics underscore these distressing scenes. According to the "Hunger in Cuba 2025" survey by the Food Monitor Program and Cuido60, released on May 4, 33.9% of Cuban households reported at least one member went to bed hungry at least once in the past 30 days, a 9.3 percentage point increase from 2024.
The report describes the situation as a "critical food insecurity" and a "humanitarian emergency."
A staggering 96.91% of the population lacks adequate access to food, with 80% of Cubans believing the current crisis surpasses the hardships of the Special Period in the 1990s.
The impact on children is particularly severe. The World Food Program notes that 48.5% of Cuban students aged 6 to 11 receive neither meals nor snacks at school.
For the first time, UNICEF included Cuba in its global analysis of child food poverty, revealing that 9% of children under five suffer from severe nutritional deprivation. The National Office of Statistics and Information also recorded a 74% increase in deaths due to malnutrition between 2022 and 2023, rising from 43 to 75 cases.
The Cuban Observatory of Human Rights estimates that 89% of the population lives in extreme poverty, with an average salary equivalent to a mere $13 per month. A family needs 10 to 11 times that minimum wage to afford a basic food basket.
On Mother's Day in Santiago de Cuba, there were reports of people fainting from hunger and scavenging for food on the ground, a stark illustration of the crisis engulfing the island after 67 years of dictatorship.
Understanding Cuba's Food Crisis
What is causing food insecurity in Cuba?
The prolonged economic mismanagement and policies under Cuba's socialist regime have led to widespread shortages and food insecurity, exacerbated by external factors like the U.S. embargo.
How are children affected by the food crisis in Cuba?
Children are among the most vulnerable, with many suffering from severe malnutrition and lacking access to regular meals, both at home and in schools.
What are the statistics on hunger in Cuban households?
Recent surveys indicate that 33.9% of Cuban households have experienced hunger, with at least one person going to bed hungry in the past month.