Where are the children of Cuba? The numbers tell a chilling story
Cubans fled the island in 2022 than were born. This sad reality compromises not only the country’s present, but also its future. Cubans on the island no longer plan to start families, but rather to emigrate or die.
With 95,402 births and 120,000 deaths, the population growth rate is the lowest in Cuba’s history. The 2022 birth figures reaffirm the negative demographic trend on the island since the Castro dictatorship took power, which has accelerated after the civic uprising on July 11, 2021.
Social networks and Cubans’ loss of fear to denounce the dictatorship’s negligence has forced the regime to recognize trends that point to the collapse of the island’s health system, such as the decrease in live births.
The infant mortality rate is at least, according to official figures, 7.5 per 1,000 births, a worrying increase when compared to 4.9 per 1,000 births in 2020. Poor hygiene in hospitals, insufficient medical personnel being sent on international missions, lack of medicine and pregnant women’s malnutrition are some of the reasons that explain this growth in infant mortality.
In January, we learned that eight newborns had died in the same maternity hospital in Havana, at least six of them from bacteria because of unsanitary conditions in the neonatal intensive care ward.
Epidemics of dengue hemorrhagic fever and COVID-19 throughout the country further threaten the demographic replacement rate in a population in which 23% are over 60 years of age.
And what little information that the dictatorship has allowed to be released about the suicide suggests that it is the third-leading cause of death among children and adolescents between 10 and 19 years of age.
In a country without opportunities, it is not surprising that these deaths occur more often in central and eastern provinces, with severe economic crises and lack of social mobility.
On the Isle of Pines, experts have reported that the population with signs of depression has increased significantly in the past two years.
According to official statistics, at least 16 suicides per 100,000 inhabitants occur annually in Cuba. However, because the regime is reluctant to admit suicide is a social problem, the figures likely are much higher, especially after the dictatorship has increased repression and arrested thousands of people since 2021. Many released citizens, including minors, have reported experiencing symptoms of depression.
Even less information exists on the hundreds of thousands of Cubans who have left the island legally or illegally, by land or by sea, those who have emigrated or died trying, and those who have been able to reach the United States or have tried their luck in Latin America or Europe.
The numbers are chilling: More than 2% of the population of 11 million has entered the United States alone in the last year.
Cuba perishes, one way or another. Communism has meant nothing less than the progressive extinction of its culture and civilization. It’s imperative to redouble efforts to fight back. The very life of the nation is at stake.
Orlando Gutierrez Boronat is the author of “Cuba: the Doctrine of the Lie.” He is also the coordinator of the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance.