"Am I Supposed to Thank Fidel?": Cuban Woman with Cancer Reveals Harsh Reality of Cooking with Wood

A Cuban woman named María Julia Gómez Pérez, residing in Santa Clara, has taken to social media to expose the dire circumstances she is enduring while battling metastatic cancer. In a video, she is seen cooking with wood, fanning the flames with a piece of cardboard to prepare meals for her 89-year-old mother and bedridden sister. "Here I am, I've cooked the main dish and now I'm making a little rice and beans for my mother and sister. But this woman you see cooking has breast cancer, metastasis in her hip, spine, a liver full of tumors, and possibly in her lungs too," she recounted.

Gómez Pérez criticized the Cuban government for denying her access to liquefied gas despite her severe health condition, forcing her to cook in a primitive way and exposing herself to harmful smoke. "Who am I supposed to thank? Fidel, Raúl, Díaz-Canel? They won't provide prioritized gas for me, and I have a right to it," she exclaimed.

Her already fragile health is compounded by the responsibility of caring for her elderly mother and bedridden sister, further exacerbating her situation. "I have to feed myself, but I also need to feed my mother and my bedridden sister," she said with frustration. She also described the physical and emotional pain she experiences: "I've been here for an hour or two doing this. I got up at dawn to soften the beans, and just when they were ready to make afternoon rice and beans, the power went out," she said visibly distressed.

Her testimony has struck a chord on social media, where hundreds have expressed solidarity and condemned the lack of governmental support. "May God have mercy on our country," commented one user. "The people of Cuba no longer live; they just survive," added another. "The president is getting fat while the people are dying," another user wrote indignantly. "Share this video so the world can see Cuba's suffering," another comment suggested. "My respect and admiration for this woman, a true fighter," expressed a user. "May God lend a hand, we can't take it anymore," added another.

A Glimpse into Cuba's Worsening Crisis

The plight of María Julia Gómez Pérez adds to the growing wave of complaints about the energy and social crisis in Cuba. In recent months, prolonged power outages have affected thousands of families, with some resorting to cooking with wood or charcoal due to the shortage of liquefied gas.

On Thursday, the Cuban Electric Union reported an electricity generation deficit exceeding 1,500 MW, leading to power cuts lasting up to 24 hours a day in various provinces. The state media, instead of acknowledging the seriousness of the situation, has tried to downplay the issue, even romanticizing blackouts as an opportunity to "reclaim lost traditions."

Cases like that of Izzy (@izzys33), a young Cuban who shared on TikTok the difficulty of cooking with an alcohol burner during a blackout, have highlighted the impact of this crisis on the daily lives of citizens.

Meanwhile, the Cuban government has implemented inadequate measures, such as distributing firewood in certain areas to alleviate the crisis. However, these actions have not managed to address the shortages affecting most of the population, especially the most vulnerable sectors, including the sick, the elderly, and children.

The testimony of Gómez Pérez is yet another illustration of the desperation many Cubans face, confronting not only severe illnesses but also extreme hardship in a country where scarcity and lack of access to basic needs continue to define daily life.