Cuban Activist Lara Crofs Criticizes Overwhelmed Funeral Services in Cuba

Cuban activist Lara Crofs, whose real name is Yamilka Lafita, expressed her outrage on Facebook this past Saturday, highlighting the dire state of funeral services in Cuba. She asserted that the ability to have a dignified burial now hinges on one's financial capability or personal connections.

Her post came shortly after she disclosed the heartbreaking news of her father's death, a revelation delayed due to a power outage lasting over 40 hours and a lack of telecommunications coverage.

"I couldn't even learn of my father's passing in a timely manner. In this darkness, we are deprived of something as fundamental as receiving such news when it happens," she wrote, sharing the profound mix of grief, helplessness, and anger that the situation caused her.

The Collapse of Funeral Services

In a follow-up post, Crofs broadened her criticism to encompass the entire system: "Funeral services in Cuba are utterly overwhelmed, and even death seems to have become a privilege for those who can afford it. What's left available is ensnared in a grim cycle of bribes, favors, connections, and trafficking of needs, where a family's grief is commodified and a loved one's body becomes currency."

She further lamented the societal decline: "We are witnessing the most brutal degradation of a society when even in the face of death, human desperation is exploited. A system that turns a final farewell into a business of bribes is one that has stripped away even the dignity of dying."

Public Outcry and Support

Numerous Cubans echoed similar experiences in response to her post. "All services are overwhelmed; however, profiting from illness and death is particularly abhorrent," one commenter noted. Another added, "The worst destruction here isn't material." A third person was more forthright: "Even dying here is a nightmare; I experienced it just two days ago with a neighbor who was like a brother to me." Many agreed this issue is not new: "This has been happening for years, it's not just now."

Historical Context of the Crisis

The collapse Crofs described is documented across multiple provinces. In February 2026, a family in Holguín had to resort to using a makeshift cardboard coffin due to a shortage of caskets. Independent media reports suggest that without informal payments amounting to thousands of pesos, the delivery of a coffin in various provinces can be significantly delayed.

In Las Tunas, state-run burials at the Vicente García cemetery were halted in April due to a collapse that local authorities admit has persisted without resolution for eight years. In Santiago de Cuba, authorities only removed a man's body three days after his death at his home.

Worsening Conditions Due to Energy Crisis

The energy crisis exacerbates every issue. On September 18, Cuba experienced its eighth nationwide blackout of the year, with a total shutdown of the National Electric System leaving over nine million people without electricity for about 32 hours and causing more than 80% of telecommunication radiobases to fail.

Under these conditions of darkness and disconnection, Crofs learned, belatedly, of her father's passing.

The regime has attempted to mitigate the crisis with isolated measures—like introducing electric vehicles in Havana and importing hearses from China—but reports consistently indicate these efforts fall short of addressing a deep-rooted structural deterioration that has gone unresolved for years.