Women in Cuba – an overview

BY RAISA PAGES (Granma International staff writer)

But their biggest feat, still unattainable by man, is not confined to the search for recognition in the social, work or gender equality spheres. It is inherent in their own being, the ability to reproduce life.

In prehistoric times, men and women worked together hunting and searching for food on an equal basis and women’s social displacement came into being as a result of the development of agricultural communities and urban settlements.

Slave, plebeian, servant, farm laborer, tradesperson, employed in unskilled work and jobs requiring a lot of physical effort, women went through a series of stages with a double burden: bringing up children, carrying out domestic chores and helping maintain the family. They were subjected, with the flux of history, to the prevailing patriarchal traditions although under different banners and customs, dramatically marked, particularly in the underdeveloped world.

Women ascended a throne which no one disputes, queen of the home, who makes life more comfortable for the rest of the family at the cost of their own social potential, their health and life, say experts in this subject from the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC).

According to a census carried out in Cuba in 1953, women made up only 19.2% of the work force in the country.

They carried out chores of minimal social status, unskilled work, as domestic workers or in small family businesses; secretaries or teachers at best, and victims of a high rate of unemployment recorded in Cuba prior to the triumph of the Revolution in 1959.

Cuban women took full advantage of the revolutionary government’s initiatives aimed at opening the doors to improvement and reintegration into the country’s socioeconomic life in terms of education, health care, employment and projects with the goal of attaining full gender equality.

It was due to this process that between 1970 and 1990 the female labor force grew by 22.4%, while the male sector only increased by 4.2% in the same period.

While in 1990 women represented 38.9% of the work force, they now represent 43.6%, which is the equivalent to more than 1.417 million in the public sector.

The aforementioned figure, when extended to include all forms of production (cooperative and private), increases to 37.5%.

Women’s participation in the Cuban economy during the special period did not decrease. During the last four years, the female work force has increased by 36%.

The explanation for this phenomenon, contrary to the trend in other countries undergoing economic crises, owes to the fact that 66.1% of professionals and intermediate-level technicians are women.

Also, the greatest shortages of resources were in production sectors which are traditionally male-dominated.

Half a million Cuban women are engaged in highly skilled technical and professional activities.

Currently, there is a great deal of talk about the feminization of poverty. On a global level, seven out of every 10 poor people are women or girls, according to a study carried out by the World Food Program (WFP).

Nevertheless, in Cuba there has been a feminization of the technical and professional work force. Women represent 45% of the scientific and technical sector. More than 70% of bank employees are women, while they represent 43.9% of the work force in joint ventures and have proven their their abilities, skills and efficiency.

More than 50% of the work force in the Ministry of Public Health is female and women many hold key posts, from primary care within the community to high-ranking positions in polyclinics and hospitals.

Female creativity can also be seen within the National Association of Innovators and Rationalizers, and women have won outstanding prizes in the national forums held by this organization.

However, female involvement in the tourism industry does not tally with the dynamic growth within this sector in the current phase of economic recovery, which is explained, according to female management, by the incorrect methods employed within the technical schools that train personnel for tourism.

To reverse this process, the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) is promoting measures aimed at obtaining equity in terms of gender among those selected to enroll in tourism training schools.

The Cuban government’s approval of a range of self-employment activities has currently enabled 42,267 women to earn a living on their own; more than 50% of them were previously housewives.

While thousands of women throughout the world are calling for a plot of land to farm, in Cuba more than 11,200 women are now using land in usufruct to grow tobacco, coffee, cacao and garden vegetables, thanks to an initiative begun in 1993 which continues to expand.

The majority of these farms are in mountainous areas, meaning that inhabitants of these parts now have an opportunity to improve their food and earnings.

The number of women in agricultural work has grown by more than 51,200 over the past three years, in addition to the fact that the increase in industrial processing of tobacco created some 12,000 new posts for women in 1998 and 1999. Within the sugar processing sector, both in terms of agriculture and industry, female employment is on the rise.

Women currently occupy 30% of the work force within the Ministry of the Sugar Industry, holding posts previously held only by men, as cane harvester operators, cane cutters, sugar processing managers, experts in quality control, economists and more.

They also hold key positions such as executives of agro-industrial sugar complexes, administrators of sugar mills and they take part in the research of important projects aimed at diversifying this crop.

Even though statistics indicate that the special period did not decimate female participation in the work force, we must not forget the social impact and suffering it entailed for women and their families starting in the early 1990s.

The home and the family have been damaged by the double blockade: that of the United States and that which occurred with the sudden demise of the Soviet Union and the Eastern European socialist bloc.

At the start of the special period, owing to the severe transportation problems, which have not yet been resolved, many women workers had to change jobs in order to be closer to home. In addition, those services aimed at alleviating the domestic burden suffered cutbacks.

All this took its physical toll on women. Their strength and perseverance are evident in the many schemes and initiatives developed to alleviate the effects of the special period, both in their working life and in the family.

They confront widespread shortages bravely and are very creative when it comes to ensuring that their families are adequately fed and that their children attend school clean and in uniform.

Women showed a great ability to adapt themselves to temporary work when work places had to close down because there weren’t enough raw materials, fuel or electricity. Now that the process of economic recovery within Cuba is progressing smoothly, women are reaping the benefits of the resultant improvements.

The fact that construction of day-care centers came to a halt due to lack of materials influenced the reintegration of young mothers into the work force.

This difficulty, which still prevails, has compelled those with young children to become reliant on retired women or housewives who offer their services as babysitters. But this option is not open to everyone, since prices set in the private sector are higher than the minimal prices established in state-owned day-care centers, where food and educational programs are coordinated by skilled personnel with the aim of educating children prior to their enrollment in elementary school.

At the same time, material shortages in day-care centers, even though that they are given priority for the limited resources available in the country, are the cause of temporary closures of these facilities, which has negative repercussions on the work patterns of many mothers.

To mitigate these effects, informal educational projects have been set up in the community involving housewives or retired women who are trained and guided by the Ministry of Education and the FMC to care for and educate children.

In rural areas, improvised centers have been founded which care for children of female agricultural workers and laborers living in remote or isolated regions.

A number of experts from the FMC’s Women’s Studies Center indicate that women are the ones who have been hardest hit by the difficulties of daily life in the special period.

However, they point out that the involvement of other family members in domestic chores is increasingly seen. One doesn’t have to look at statistics to note that there are men who, when confronted by the need to care for a sick child, will decide to stay home if his wife makes a higher salary. Of course, this is not the norm, but this kind of behavior can be seen more and more, thus breaking the stereotypical chauvinist relationship prevalent until now.

Unequal relationships within couples, experts argue, have not changed to the same degree as the current social role of women, even when the woman contributes a substantial part of the family income. The excess tension unleashed by women in the domestic sphere is often a source of conflict, without underestimating the pressures resulting from male chauvinism, according to Carolina Aguilar, Perla Popowski and Mercedes Verdeses in a study carried out by the Women’s Studies Center.

A subject which has been played to the hilt in the foreign press and the focus of public debate by Cuban journalists, the resurgence of prostitution in Cuba during the special period, a social stigma eradicated by the Revolution through its program of social justice, is a phenomenon with multiple causes. It cannot be seen as the only option to resolving economic difficulties. This profession, which is as old as humanity itself, is present throughout the world.

Economic motives cannot be dismissed, but analysis must also encompass the gender perspective, on account of the discriminatory perception and self-perception of the woman as a sex object, as well as the distortion of values arising out of an overemphasis on material possessions.

Experts in this area agree that behind the return of prostitution in Cuba is the search for easy earnings by young people avoiding work, social and family responsibilities. At the start of the special period the activities, of the so-called "jineteras" was more open and had a certain degree of impunity.

However, the program of preventative action aimed at halting its spread has had an impact on the public practice of prostitution.

Officials and experts in the national leadership of the FMC say, "We are the majority of the economic base but a minority in power." While in 1996, 30% of women held leadership positions, the percentage last year rose to 32.2.

Three women are at the head of important ministries: domestic trade, foreign investment, and technology, science and the environment.

Within the Communist Party of Cuba, women are in the Central Committee and the Political Bureau and two women are first secretaries of this political organization in two vital economic regions: Matanzas and Pinar del Río, both in western Cuba.

Within the National Assembly, 27.6% of the deputies are women. Cuba is 12th in the list of women parliamentary representatives, surpassed only by those nations which have set minimum quotas for women representatives.

Reina Muros, FMC official in promotion and mass media, says, "We are still not satisfied because there is a great deal of ability and intelligence which are not being utilized." She emphasizes, "It is not the case that women restrict themselves as some argue; rather, they have a double shift, at home and in the workplace, that prevents their access to leadership positions."

Almost half the Cuban population and women electorate are still not fairly represented in the highest administrative, political and legislative spheres.

After the World Conference on Women in Beijing, Cuba initiated a government program incorporating more than 80 measures directed toward improving the situation of Cuban women, with the participation of all state bodies and institutions involved in the search for solutions to the range of problems remaining.

The 7th FMC Congress, which will be held from March 6 to 8 in Havana, will be a new forum from which women will demand rights withheld from them, not by law but by traditions still existing within Cuban society.

The throne of the queen of the household is a scepter which the majority of the family, particularly men, do not wish to share, even when their partners are women who are increasingly more educated and efficient.

BY ANNE-MARIE GARCIA (Special for Granma International)

In everyday life, as well as her athletic career, she has had to fight to be able to assume responsibilities on an equal footing with men. "I have often spoken of the lack of women in official posts, when in reality Cuban women have achieved high levels in sports. I don’t want to speak of male chauvinism because I believe that the causes are sometimes unconscious, like saying, that woman shouldn’t be given that job because she has a young child."

Women had a key role in the struggle for the triumph of the Revolution and in their turn they demanded equality with men at every level of society. It is a difficult feat, the Olympic champion emphasizes.

"It is also to do with education. In my case, my mother took me everywhere and taught me to take on all kinds of responsibilities. Later I followed her example and when I had my child I took him everywhere, whether it was to a reception or a meeting, to a training session or wherever. If Cuban women are in the front line in sports, when they retire they should remain in the front line."

There are 33 sports federations in Cuba and it is noteworthy that only three women hold the position of commissioner: in rhythmic gymnastics and synchronized swimming, both of which are practiced only by women, and in fencing.

In the latter, Rafaela González occupies the post of commissioner and she does not feel uncomfortable with this, "When I attend a commissioners’ meeting, I feel like just one more of them and we have normal working relations. I think that in the world of sports this is a common problem, not confined to one particular country. Men dominate and they are determined not to entrust official posts to women; they are not reluctant at all when it comes to taking on responsibilities and, nevertheless, they are very prejudiced in their assessment of the work that women are capable of undertaking.

"I am the only woman on the executive committee of the international fencing federation. It’s such a big the problem that the statutes make it obligatory to have a woman in each federation. Therefore, it cannot be said that the problem is only in Cuba and I think that we women are the ones who should take the initiative and forge ahead."

González, who was a fencer when she studied physical education and sports in the Manuel Fajardo Higher Institute, explains that one group that has taken the initiative is female Cuban fencers, who are among the top three teams in the world.

She emphasizes, "I have been head of the fencing commission for 20 years and I always say that I am something of a mother to all Cuban fencers. The foil, saber and epée teams are all my beloved children, we feel a great deal of love and respect for each other. I know when to raise my voice and make demands and also when to give praise, but I especially admire the women fencers, because in spite of all the difficulties they have managed to forge ahead and occupy a top place in the world elite."

Sitting in front of the television set in the living room of her home in the Santos Suárez neighborhood of Havana, María Caridad Colón and her son Angel Ruslan are once again watching a video of her performance in Moscow. The national anthem is played and María Caridad is in the highest position on the podium. Asked if she feels moved, she replies, "Very that day my heart was pounding, afterwards I couldn’t watch the playback."

The voice of the commentator is heard: "María Caridad Colón. Gold medal for Cuba." Does she remember whether she cried that day? "No, no I didn’t cry, the tears came on their own."

Angel, who is 18 years old, born a year after his mother’s Olympic victory, interrupts, "Imagine, it is the most that an athlete could ever hope for. Look, look at the throw... that day she could have broken the world record, but she had some trouble. Look at the technique I am always astounded and since I’m now a javelin thrower on the Cuban youth team, I have my own particular technique."

Did Angel ever feel sad when his mother went off to compete? "No, never. Of course when I was little I always wanted to be with her and always waited anxiously for her to return, because I knew she would bring me toys and would play with me."

His mother smiles and exclaims, "And now that he’s grown up, he doesn’t want me to go anywhere with him!"

María Caridad and Angel have suffered the price of fame throughout their lives. Angel stresses, "It has its positive side, as everyone wants to say hello to her and that’s a way of recognizing what she has done. But it also has its down side, as sometimes when we are in a quiet places talking about private or important matters suddenly someone appears and interrupts us."

Nevertheless, María Caridad has good experiences almost every day, especially where children are concerned, "I’ve continued doing sports. I jog, lift a few weights and play basketball, sometimes with a veteran team, on other occasions I simply go to the track in Sports City and play with the children who are almost always there."

Even though she felt complete as an athlete when she won the Olympic medal 20 years ago and fulfilled as a woman with Angel’s birth 18 years ago, María Caridad has not stopped dreaming. "I’ve always said to Angel that because he is the son of a champion he doesn’t necessarily have to be a champion. The important thing is the will to do what he wants to do in life. He is going to start studying at the university because he wants to be a designer and on the other hand there is his sports career, because that is what he wants. So I am hoping for the medal, any type of medal. I always tell him that the three colors are beautiful and important."

BY RAISA PAGES (Granma International staff writer)

But it wasn’t like that. The young mother wasn’t just another of her patients. Dr. Martínez knew her from childhood, having given her intensive leukemia therapy. When she saw her healthy and with a baby, she had to rely on her professional maturity so as not to burst into tears.

Rewards such as these are what supply the daily energy needed to overcome the fatigue of long shifts at the hospital, which is located in Havana and is the national reference center not only for cardiovascular surgery, but for all types of childhood illnesses.

Her responsibilities as director include overseeing the efficient care of some 700 to 800 children every day, of whom 70% are patients from the country’s interior.

After directing Cuba’s largest pediatric hospital—located in the eastern province of Holguín—for 13 years, she was promoted as director of the William Soler Hospital in 1994, replacing Dr. Carlos Dotres, who is now Cuba’s minister of public health.

Last year reported a survival rate of 85% in children under one year of age with complex heart disease. This is the highest in recent years, despite the U.S. blockade. And Diana feels that she cannot take personal credit for this achievement, because it is the hospital’s 1500 workers who perform everyday "miracles" as they confront the numerous material shortages.

There’s not trace of false modesty as she reports this information. When we arrived at her office, we listened to her speak with the hospital’s cooks, giving them suggestions about how to serve the food more attractively, and pointing out that they should use everything to best advantage, "because even old bread can be made into a dessert like bread pudding."

After electrical repairs which paralyzed activity in the heart center for some months in 1998, it reopened in 1999, and during that year 230 operations were done. Another 400 are slated for this year.

"When you choose a medical career, it’s not enough to feel for others’ pain; you have to train yourself to fight death, to make use of knowledge to save the lives that are in your hands," she says.

Born on a sugar plantation in the eastern province of Holguín, Diana took part in the literacy campaign at the age of 13, and later was given a scholarship to study at the Ciudad Libertad educational center, previously barracks for Batista’s army. She was in the first medical school graduating class organized by the revolutionary government, beginning her studies at the same time as the Bay of Pigs invasion. However, she left school temporarily to take up arms during the Missile Crisis.

"I’ve always had responsibilities, not only administrative, but political and educational. From the moment I was the only pediatric postgraduate in Gibara, Holguín province, I’ve been the head of wards, community clinics, deputy director of public health at the municipal level, and now the director of a hospital.

"It’s difficult for women to reach leadership positions, even though you may climb all the steps from the bottom. We get the positions later than men, who pass us up, but when we assume leadership, we perform with efficiency and with quality; and for that reason we remain in our posts," she explains.

"Any child in Cuba with complications is brought to this hospital, even if it’s not a heart problem. We have 400 beds and when we were visited by the UN’s human rights rapporteur, she left crying because she realized the effects of the blockade on health care.

"There are no children dying for lack of care, and no one stands at the entrance to the hospital begging for money to pay for medical care; that doesn’t happen in Cuba. She was crying because the children here are denied access to the best medications and the best technologies available in the United States, a nation just 90 miles away.

"It’s much more difficult to buy those supplies in Europe and through third countries than to buy them directly, close by. The transportation costs are higher, and these difficulties are due to the Helms-Burton Act, which causes greater suffering by blocking the acquisition of medicines and equipment for public health.

"Everything costs us 10 times more. We purchase some cardiovascular surgical materials, such as catheters for blood studies, through transactions in which several countries participate, and for that reason it takes longer for them to get here and sometimes we don’t have them when we need them most.

"We are hard hit by the shortage of third-generation antibiotics to combat severe infections. Instead of administering one tablet a day, we have to give four daily injections, which for a child is criminal.

"The United States has technologies that we don’t have to stop the suffering of asthmatics. The blockade of Cuba has not been relaxed on medications," the director of the William Soler Hospital charges.

"But that anguish is diminished when we see that last year, despite all the problems, the country achieved the lowest infant mortality rate in its history."

Although she has gone two days without sleep, Dr. Martínez doesn’t look tired. "Last night I stayed with my father, who is hospitalized at the Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital, and the day before I did guard duty for my CDR [Committee for the Defense of the Revolution]. Tomorrow I’m on call for 24 hours.

"No matter how exhausted I am, when I get into the hospital my energy is renewed, because my work is very exciting," she states while drinking coffee with the Granma International reporters. The interview is taking place in an area outside of her office, to give her a chance to talk without interruptions from the patients and doctors who constantly seek out her advice.

"I am very active internationally as the head of the Latin American Parliament’s Health Commission, and the leadership team at the hospital makes it possible for me to carry out these functions. We have eight deputy directors, five of whom are women."

"A leader can do more with tenderness and smiles than with a furrowed brow. Excellence isn’t achieved through poor treatment. We’re not satisfied with the 85% survival rate in complex heart operations of children under one year of age, because we should be able to achieve better quality of life indicators," states Dr. Martínez, the mother of two sons who chose their parents’ profession: "One, age 31, is a pediatric surgeon, and the younger one is an ophthalmologist. I’ve got three grandchildren, two boys and a girl."

What does she like to do with the little free time she has? "I write love poems, but I don’t show them to anyone, or talk about them. I wanted to be a writer, I would have liked that, but that aptitude has served me well in my profession because I have to write a lot. I also love to cook, to invent dishes, to make desserts and decorate them. That relaxes me a lot when I get home tense.

"I love receiving flowers—I prefer orchids—and I also adore perfumes and getting dressed up, looking good, putting on makeup, no matter how tired and hurried I am," confesses this woman who is also a member of the City of Havana Provincial Committee of the Party, and a member of the national committee of the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC), an organization which has supported her throughout her career and which she represented at the 4th International Conference on Women, in the group dealing with health.

"Although women predominate in the health sector throughout the world, they don’t reach positions of power very easily," she admits.

What’s the most important thing for her? "Love, because it’s impossible to live without it."

BY RAISA PAGES (Granma International staff writer)

Dr. Isel Cortés Nodarse, a researcher at the National Institute of Materials and Reagents (INRE), attached to the Ministry of Higher Education, admits at age 36 that her greatest self-realization was not the research for her doctorate, backed by the Stockholm Royal Technological Institute, where she studied to complete the literature on analytic chemistry. "It was when I became aware of my contribution to saving lives....

"The solutions used to calibrate gasometers, which measure the blood of critically ill patients, are a high-cost hard currency item. People in the public health sector, who knew about my work in search of a domestic alternative to solutions of that kind, called me in 1990, when it was clear that the special period was imminent, to participate in the mother and child health program to guarantee essential supplies in intensive care wards.

"I was able to help save the lives of children and adults. It was really satisfying," affirmed this young woman, a Gold Diploma graduate in her specialty and the winner of a major prize at the 6th National Science and Technology Forum in 1991.

Her inclination for science and laboratories came about when she was a student researcher at the electrochemical plant in her hometown of Sagua La Grande in the island’s central region. Her father, a retired heavy equipment mechanic, and her mother, both of campesino origin, still live there.

With an 11-year-old son, Isel divides her time among multiple tasks. She lectures in postgraduate courses and is, moreover, the coordinator for the national office on environmental problems, set up within the University of Havana, and has a staff of specialists in almost all branches of knowledge, due to the complexity of the subject.

"I get great pleasure from giving postgraduate courses to adults older than myself. I feel very encouraged by the respect with which they treat me and their interest in learning from a woman who’s much younger than them.

"Sometimes they ask me questions for which I have no answers and it’s really great to find them and dispel doubts, even if on that day I might get to bed really late, after immersing myself in scientific literature.

"I spend most nights reading, but my greatest regret is that it’s almost always scientific material and I have no time for anything else.

"Another of my great satisfactions these days is my work as coordinator of the university office, because I’ve gone back to my roots: doing environmental impact studies in any part of the country, on land or at sea.

"That office provides services to joint ventures, given that the law states that one percent of the total investment must be devoted precisely to that type of research, in order to protect our island’s environment," she explains.

"My current interrelation with other scientists in that office allows me to explore different worlds of knowledge. That, together with the pleasure derived from teaching, are my greatest incentives to overcome day-to-day exhaustion," reveals this modest young woman, who is still wondering why we selected her for an interview.

BY RAISA PAGES (Granma International staff writer)

They grow more than 40% of the agricultural produce, contribute 60-80% of the food and are almost exclusively responsible for family survival.

With the transition to a market economy and structural adjustment programs, 61% of Latin America’s rural population is living in poverty, according to the April 1997 edition of the Latin American Agency’s information bulletin.

The feminization of poverty, particularly in rural areas, is generalized. Women have double the work. The majority of them receive no remuneration for their work, and do not participate in decisions concerning the family economy. It is women who suffer the most from the lack of medical care for themselves and their children. In addition to this, there is a generalized condition of prejudices and discrimination, the result of machismo in the rural environment, submitting women to an inferior status.

While campesino women are being affected by the pauperization of their working conditions, those involved in the agribusiness sector are to be found in the lowest-paid jobs, working on tasks that require meticulous care. They are generally exposed to heavy doses of chemical agents that are harmful to their health, and to the consumption of stimulants to increase their productivity and hours of work.

The working day has increased both for campesino women and female agricultural workers, as a sharpening rural crisis has led to higher male migration, leaving virtually all the responsibility for productive agricultural units in women’s hands.

Women confront a structural limitation in terms of access to technology and training (among other reasons, due to the rural women’s illiteracy), which has repercussions on their insertion in the most advanced areas.

Rural Latin American women earn 20-40% less than male rural workers. The socioeconomic and labor segregation resulting from this social relation also extends to girls and young campesino women, who participate in productive work from a very early age.

The awarding of good and fertile land to large producers and the transnationals is forcing campesinos to relocate on arid land and plots difficult to cultivate. This is one of the reasons for male migration to the big cities, with the consequent results of increased hunger and urban unemployment, and the accompanying overburdening of women.

In the current conditions of the increasing feminization of poverty and land privatization, women’s possibilities of holding or owning land are becoming steadily more remote. This situation constitutes one of the principal causes of the emigration of indigenous peoples and the dispossession of their lands.

Women’s access to food and the inheritance, holding and ownership of land must be viewed as a fundamental human right.

BY RAISA PAGES (Granma International staff writer)

During 1998—the most recent year covered by Cuban statistics—there were 64,900 legal marriages and the marriage rate was 5.8 per 1000 inhabitants.

In the same year, 39,798 divorces were reported, which is the equivalent of 3.6 legalized separations per 1000 inhabitants. Thus, according to the official statistics, there are more marriages than divorces.

Since 1965, abortion has been legal and available in Cuban health institutions, but its current use is above desired levels. In the ’80s abortions rose at an alarming rate, and in the ’90s the tendency decreased due to educational and sex education programs directed toward young couples. In 1998, 22.8 abortions were performed for every 1000 women between the ages of 12 and 49. The numbers indicate that of every 100 pregnancies, 33 ended in abortion, with the highest incidence among women between the ages of 20 and 24, who stated that they chose not to have children for a variety of reasons, including the desire to continue studying, not wanting to be single mothers, or poor economic conditions.

Women still bear the burden of responsibility for avoiding unwanted pregnancies, even though there are diverse programs aimed at couples to educate men about contraceptive methods.

Young people learn about the use of contraceptives in sex education classes, which are provided free by the health system.

According to the latest Cuban Demographic Yearbook (1998), for every 1000 women of child-bearing age, 50 give birth. Viewed from another statistical angle, what specialists call the overall reproduction rate is currently at 0.78 daughters per woman, which means that less females are being born than the number they are supposed to replace.

The latest report of the birthrate is 13.6 for every 1000 inhabitant, indicating a decrease in the number of children born to Cuban women. In this respect, the island’s indicators mirror those of developed countries.