Cuba's infant mortality rate has surged to 8.2 per 1,000 live births—the highest in decades—amid a deepening healthcare crisis, hospital shortages, and declining birth rates.

“What comes out of your throat is black. It’s like we’re breathing poison. These people are killing us slowly.” The message captures the anguish of residents in Moa, a mining city in Cuba’s eastern province of Holguín. In recent days, citizen reports have drawn attention to a sharp spike in environmental pollution in this industrial hub—home to Cuba’s main nickel and cobalt processing plants.

In Cuba, more and more children and teenagers are skipping school due to the lack of breakfast, clothing, or snacks. The economic crisis has turned the simple act of sending kids to school into a daily struggle for many families.

Cuban doctors in Guyana report months without pay amid growing international pressure and potential policy changes following U.S. intervention. 

Cuban doctors are vital to Spain’s public healthcare system, yet thousands face years-long delays in getting their credentials recognized. Amid staff shortages, they remain trapped in bureaucratic limbo.

After her teenage son refused compulsory military service, Ismari Saavedra faced years of government harassment, school expulsion, and threats—exposing Cuba’s crackdown on conscientious objection.

The contamination of the Belico and Cubanicay rivers, which border the center of Villa Clara, has a long history. One of the first lessons families in the area teach their children is that the surrounding rivers “are not good for swimming.” 

“The problem is no longer making the regime recognize the result. The problem is that the executive branch, the high military command, the national electoral council, and the attorney general conspired to disregard the popular will, and that constitutes an attempted coup d’état.”