Unbearably hot nights, rolling blackouts, persistent water shortages, failing housing, and unreliable communication networks are straining daily life across Cuba. For a population of roughly 10 million, the mental burden is reaching a critical threshold as a U.S. energy embargo and deep economic woes offer no immediate prospect of relief. "Before there was hope," Dr.
Yomeidis Felicó Riverón said. "Right now, what people have lost is exactly that." A primary care physician, Felicó Riverón has taken on an unexpected secondary role as residents attempt to navigate their challenging environment. "They come and cry about their troubles, because they have no one else to vent to," she said of her patients.
"We end up having to play psychologist." On a recent sunny afternoon, six girls and one boy gathered around a table while their parents sat in the background, attempting to fan away the suffocating heat. The children were attending a free workshop on crafting gift bags and perfume, designed to offer a temporary respite from Cuba's realities. "My son doesn’t know if there’s food or if there’s no food," Felicó Riverón said, noting that she conceals financial difficulties from him when she cannot afford things he asks for.
Instead, she shifts his focus: "Let’s go play, let’s go to the park. We’ll come back another day." Dianne Tamayo was among the mothers present that day. The workshop served as an oasis for her and her daughter, allowing her to converse with others and temporarily forget household concerns.
"My husband is my rock," she said. "When I’m going crazy, my husband tells me, ‘Sit down, breathe … let’s put on some music.’" He sometimes has to remind Tamayo that their daughter is coming home from school soon, and that they need to keep their troubles, anxieties and frustrations to themselves. "I do the best I can with the tools I have, but there’s still a moment where I get overwhelmed," she said.
Tears fell as she confided that she doesn’t have anything in her life that relaxes her, and that she has never questioned how to release her feelings about life in Cuba. "They are exterminating us," she said, "and we remain complacent." Difficulties on the island intensified after U.S. President Donald Trump announced in late January that he would impose tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to the Caribbean country.
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