Never since the triumph of the Cuban revolution in 1959 have anti-government protesters mounted large, simultaneous demonstrations in cities across the island like they did last weekend. Some of the demonstrations were peaceful; others were little more than riots and an excuse for looting. But all were expressions of people\u2019s economic desperation and frustration at the government\u2019s inability to alleviate their current misery.<\/p>\n
The Cuban government is broke. Over the past two years, it has lost every major source of foreign exchange earnings it had. The collapse of oil production in Venezuela cut the export of cheap oil to Cuba by half. US pressure convinced other Latin American governments to cancel medical services contracts with Havana and send Cuban doctors home. The Covid pandemic closed the tourism industry, cutting revenue by $3.2 billion. Just before leaving office, Donald Trump made it nearly impossible for Cuban Americans to send remittances, a loss of another $3.5 billion annually and a direct blow to more than half of Cuban families.<\/p>\n
Cuba imports 70 percent of its food, 69 percent of its oil, and most of its medical supplies. The foreign exchange shortage means that Cuba has had to cut imports drastically\u2014nearly 40 percent last year alone and more this year. Store shelves are bare. Pharmacies are empty. Finding food can take hours of searching and standing in lines. Even the stores that only take payment in foreign currencies have little on offer. Recent electrical blackouts trigger people\u2019s worst memories of the \u201cSpecial Period\u201d\u2014the economic depression Cuba suffered in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union.<\/p>\n
Social tensions have been rising as the economy has deteriorated, visible in small incidents of protest, confrontations between police and civilians, and scuffles on lines at stores\u2014so while the scope of these demonstrations is surprising, the fact that tensions have boiled over is not.<\/p>\n
In just the past few months, things have gotten noticeably worse. The government\u2019s unification of the dual currency and exchange rate system in January\u2014a necessary step toward economic reform, Cuban economists agree\u2014unleashed inflation, eroding real incomes despite the government\u2019s attempt to boost salaries to compensate. Covid, which appeared to be under control before the advent of the Delta variant, has now broken out again, with a record number of cases, and is threatening to overwhelm the resource-poor health care system.<\/p>\n
Cuba\u2019s economic situation is not yet as bad as it was in the 1990s; last year GDP fell 11 percent, and it is still falling, but it fell 35 percent in the 1990s. The political situation, however, is much different today than it was then. The generation that lived through the 1959 revolution and the early halcyon days of revolutionary exuberance were a pillar of regime support back then. Now in their 70s and 80s, they are a small and shrinking constituency.<\/p>\n
The dominant age cohorts today are people who came of age after the Soviet collapse. Their experience of \u201cthe Revolution\u201d is one of interminable shortages and unfulfilled promises for reform. Fidel and Ra\u00fal Castro, whose prestige as regime founders bolstered popular support among older Cubans, are gone, replaced by a new generation of leaders who have to prove their right to rule by performance. They have to deliver the goods, literally, and so far, they have not been able to do it.<\/p>\n
Inequality is an added source of frustration and resentment. The government\u2019s market-oriented economic reforms have aggravated inequality, especially along racial lines, and it has become more visible in recent years. Cubans of African descent are less likely to have family abroad to send remittances, less likely to have jobs that provide part of their wages in foreign currency, and less likely to live in nice neighborhoods attractive to tourists looking for private restaurants or room rentals. It is therefore no surprise that the recent protests began in some of Cuba\u2019s poorest neighborhoods.<\/p>\n
Afro-descendant women in Cuba and the Task of Reorganization (I)<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n