Churches and humanitarian networks expand assistance in Cuba amid the social crisis

The United Nations provided assistance in food, drinking water, and health to 1.7 million people in Cuba. (REUTERS/Norlys Perez/File Photo) Churches and humanitarian networks have expanded their assistance work in Cuba, with deliveries of food, medicine, hygiene products, and community support amid economic difficulties and problems with basic services. The United Nations reported on November 11 that its humanitarian program had cumulatively reached 1.7 million people through September. The interventions included actions related to food, drinking water, and health. The situation was portrayed by journalist Robert F. Worth in The Atlantic, picked up by Ciber Cuba, which at the end of October published the report "The Collapse of Cuba." The text captures scenes of poverty, blackouts, health problems, and a more visible presence of religious organizations in daily support tasks. The assistance from churches, communities, and humanitarian entities focuses on needs affecting vulnerable families, retirees, and workers struggling to access food, water, or medical care. Testimonials gathered by various publications show that these supports have become an alternative for part of the population, although their reach varies by locality and organization. Economist Pedro Monreal contrasted the 303,298 beneficiaries of social assistance against the 883,436 people registered as vulnerable by the State. (REUTERS/Norlys Pérez) Economist Pedro Monreal noted on November 13 that Cuban authorities recognize 883,436 people as vulnerable. The last official record cited on effective beneficiaries of social assistance, corresponding to 2025, includes 303,298 people. In his analysis "Cuba: imprecise vulnerability, insufficient social assistance, and misery without light at the end of the tunnel," Monreal differentiated between people identified as vulnerable and those who receive a budgeted benefit. The distance between the two categories highlights the coverage of social assistance. In this scenario, remittances, international aid, and community networks have become support resources for households that cannot cover all their needs with their income. Help from relatives, churches, and organizations also appears in testimonials gathered in various cities across the country. The Cuban Observatory of Human Rights estimated in August that 94% of Cubans live in extreme poverty. The figure came from its IX Study on Social Rights, based on 1,318 interviews conducted in 79 municipalities. The survey indicated that eight out of ten respondents had skipped a meal due to lack of money or food. The shortage is also related to power outages, which limit the operation of water pumping systems. The Cuban Observatory of Human Rights calculated that eight out of ten respondents skipped a daily meal. (AP Photo/Jorge Luis Baños) The Electric Union forecast an impact of 1,860 megawatts for November 14 during peak demand hours. Power outages add to the supply problems faced by communities dependent on those facilities. Worth traveled through Cuba for nine days in August alongside photographer Moises Saman. The journey included deteriorated roads, communities with blackouts, hospitals lacking resources, and families resorting to various means of subsistence. On the malecón of Santiago de Cuba, the journalist spoke with a 76-year-old woman and her daughter. Both survived through begging and collecting plastic bottles, according to The Atlantic's account. The women explained that their main economic support had died of cancer and that they received no state aid. In their home, they slept on metal structures covered with cardboard, without mattresses. The chronicle also stopped in Cayo Granma, where a nurse attended to the island's 870 inhabitants and patients from nearby communities. The lack of doctors, medicines, and drinking water conditioned her work. The water supply had been interrupted for three months, and more bacterial and skin infections had been recorded. "We have to perform miracles here," the nurse told The Atlantic. The Pentecostal congregation of the Assemblies of God expanded its presence from two to 40 temples in the Baracoa area. (AP Photo/Ramón Espinosa) The worker told the publication that she did not plan to retire because there was no one available to replace her. Her case was part of the description of the challenges faced by basic services outside the main urban centers. Cáritas Cuba reported on November 14 the arrival in Matanzas of a third shipment from the United States. The shipment included 700 food modules and 700 hygiene kits for vulnerable families. The operation is part of a program funded by Washington and executed through humanitarian organizations. The Catholic Church participates in delivering this assistance along with other entities. At the church of Los Escolapios in Havana, Worth found improvised classrooms, children receiving religious instruction, and volunteers distributing lunches of rice and beans. Father Iván Guerra Álvarez linked this activity to the intention of recovering part of the presence the Church had lost over decades. Guerra Álvarez recalled that after 1959, the State occupied religious facilities and maintained surveillance mechanisms over those spaces. "We are the largest institution in Cuba outside the Government," the priest told The Atlantic. The clergyman considered that the Church could have a role in a future political transition. That assessment was expressed by the priest and forms part of his reading of the institution's organizational capacity. The three-month interruption of the water supply increased cases of skin and bacterial infections in Cayo Granma. (AP Photo/Ramón Espinosa) In Baracoa, Pentecostal pastor Raúl de Jesús Muñoz Munder explained that his congregation regularly gathers about 1,100 members. The community organizes periodic deliveries of food and medicine for people in need, even if they do not belong to the church. Muñoz Munder told the publication that the Assemblies of God grew from two to 40 churches in that region over the last three decades. The Atlantic noted that there are not enough independent statistics to establish the national scope of evangelical growth. The need for food assistance was also reflected in an Associated Press dispatch published on November 13. The agency described long lines outside the charitable dining hall of the Quisicuaba Association in Centro Habana. Some people slept on the sidewalk to try to secure a meal. Associated Press noted among the attendees retirees and workers who previously depended mainly on salaries or pensions. The dining hall functions as an alternative for people struggling to cover their food needs. The demand observed by the agency fits into a situation in which various community networks intervene with their own resources or with aid received from abroad.