A neighbor in Havana rents space to store an expensive SUV, prompting reflection on rising inequality in Cuba. Amid the economic crisis, access to education, health, and basic services increasingly depends on family resources. Indicators like infant mortality have worsened, highlighting disparities in the system.
A few days ago, a neighbor asked the author's mother to rent the backyard patio to store a newly bought Hyundai Santa Fe SUV until official license plates were approved. This vehicle, priced at around 40,000 dollars, stands out against the country's critical economic situation.
The author questions the government's touted social equity. A university engineering student spends about 4,500 pesos monthly on private tutoring, plus at least 12,000 pesos for transportation and food, totaling two and a half times the average salary. In the 1990s, educational equity was greater, allowing access based on talent. Today, art students must pay for instruments and supplies, unlike in the 1980s and 1990s.
In sports, rural talents like Guillermo Rigondeaux, a two-time Olympic champion, would face barriers without family financial support. In public health, most medications are available on the informal market at supply-and-demand prices; hospitals often lack supplies, though medical staff perform remarkable work with limited resources.
Infant mortality in 2025 reached nine per 1,000 live births, the highest this century according to sources close to the government. Life expectancy also appears to have declined. While some endure prolonged blackouts, others buy generators, purchasing gasoline at 450 pesos per liter (about 1 dollar). The neighbor, who raises pigs, rabbits, goats, and sheep on a small farm, exemplifies the concentration of limited capital in fewer hands, widening inequality amid official rhetoric on socialism and creative resistance.
