Prominent Cuban baritone Ulises Aquino Guerra recently shared a poignant letter on Facebook, addressing his late parents and grandmother who were staunch supporters of the Cuban Revolution. In the letter, he laments that the cause they dedicated their lives to has proven to be a historical failure, as he finds himself writing without electricity or water, and with unreliable cooking gas.
In his heartfelt "Letter to My Parents and Grandmother," Aquino reflects on the sacrifices his family made. He recounts how his mother risked her life and his father was left disabled after dedicating himself to the ill-fated Zafra of 1970, an economic debacle for the regime.
"It turns out," Aquino writes, "that everything you believed in and made us believe was wrong."
The artist points out that 67 years later, the government finally acknowledges that the economy never worked. Their proposed solution involves 176 "New" measures that are essentially identical to the "Old" ones his family fought for.
Aquino criticizes the Communist Party, accusing them of stealing precious time his parents could have spent with their family. He suggests that the real power lies with Raúl Castro and the Cuban military elite.
He underscores how the promise to uplift the humble has instead resulted in more poverty than existed before 1959. "Nearly all of us are very poor, and many have become destitute and beggars," Aquino claims.
He further contrasts the regime with the pre-revolution bourgeoisie, asserting that they constructed and laid the foundations for a modern country, while the current leadership has destroyed almost everything. "A Monarchy of Marabú and Charcoal was born, which built nothing," he writes.
Aquino also dispels the notion that the U.S. embargo is the crisis's primary cause: "They have long known that the real Blockade wasn't the hardest. The toughest one was the one preventing them from liberating the economy."
He concludes his letter with a grim outlook shared by many Cubans: "I doubt this will have a happy ending."
This letter comes amid Cuba's most severe energy crisis in history. On July 9, the country experienced a record power deficit of 2,341 MW, with provinces like Matanzas enduring up to 87 consecutive hours of blackouts.
This isn't Aquino's first public confrontation with the regime. On June 19, following a Party assembly, he sharply criticized Díaz-Canel for the government's slow response to necessary changes, demanding, "Why didn't you change it if it depended on us? Did you have to drag us through this ordeal to realize it?" He has called for the government's resignation.
In October 2025, he had already condemned the dire poverty plaguing Cuban society, rejecting the official euphemism of "vulnerables" and instead calling it what it is: "miserable, hungry, poor, destitute, beggars, paupers, ragged."
Understanding Cuba's Economic and Political Challenges
What prompted Ulises Aquino to write his letter?
Ulises Aquino wrote the letter to express his disappointment over the failure of the Cuban Revolution, for which his family sacrificed so much, amid the country's ongoing hardships.
Why does Aquino criticize the Cuban Communist Party?
Aquino criticizes the Communist Party for not being the true power in Cuba and for the time it took from his family, while the real control is held by Raúl Castro and the military elite.
How does Aquino view the U.S. embargo in relation to Cuba's crisis?
Aquino argues that the U.S. embargo is not the primary cause of Cuba's crisis, suggesting that the most significant blockade is the regime's own economic policies.