Washington, D.C., September 8, 2026 — August 31 marked the International Day for People of African Descent, a day to raise awareness about the fight against racism and reaffirm the need to move toward more equal societies. In Cuba, reports by civil society organizations and the observations of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) warn of persistent structural inequalities affecting people of African descent.

For decades, the Cuban government’s official discourse has portrayed the 1959 Revolution as the moment when racial discrimination was left behind. However, more than six decades later, disparities persist in areas such as employment, housing, access to basic services, economic opportunities, and even the proportion of people who are incarcerated. At the Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality), we have documented how these inequalities are structural in nature and reproduce historical patterns of exclusion.

These disparities, raised during Cuba’s review by CERD in April of this year, were reflected in the Committee’s concluding observations, published in May.

Afro-descendant women and girls in Cuba, for example, “face greater obstacles in accessing the labor market, as well as opportunities for political participation and representation… and are disproportionately affected by adolescent pregnancies and maternal mortality. In addition, the prevalence of gender-based violence, including femicides, is a concern,” according to one section of the CERD report.

Inequality and Lack of Information

At Race and Equality, we have also questioned the methodologies used to identify the Afro-descendant population and highlighted the need for reliable information to make racial inequalities visible. In its recent review, CERD found the available statistics insufficient to assess the living conditions and enjoyment of rights of people of African descent. It therefore recommended reviewing statistical methodologies based on self-identification, conducting a new census, and publishing disaggregated data.

Inequality is also evident in the area of civil and political rights. According to the Human Rights Defense Network (RedDDHH), 3,511 repressive actions were recorded in 2025, affecting 3,310 people, of whom 1,842 were Afro-descendant, representing 55.6 percent. The organization also documented a significant presence of Afro-descendant people among victims of repressive actions inside prisons.

The protests of July 11, 2021, known as 11J, also highlighted these dynamics. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has noted that racial inequality was among the factors associated with the demonstrations and that the repression disproportionately affected people of African descent.

CERD, for its part, expressed concern over reports of excessive use of force, arbitrary detention, and racial profiling of people of African descent, particularly in the context of peaceful demonstrations. It also raised concerns about the harassment, threats, surveillance, restrictions on movement, and criminalization of activists, journalists, artists, and human rights defenders working to combat racial discrimination and promote the rights of people of African descent.

An Equality That Is Still Not Enough

CERD’s conclusions challenge the idea that racism is a problem that has been overcome in Cuba. The Committee recognized that people of African descent continue to face structural racism and discrimination linked to the historical legacy of slavery, which are reflected in poverty, vulnerability, marginalization, overrepresentation in the prison population, and disparities in access to employment, housing, and basic services.

The Committee also expressed concern about the lack of sufficient information on the implementation, results, and impact of the National Program against Racism and Racial Discrimination, adopted in 2019. It further highlighted the need to ensure the broad and inclusive participation of people of African descent and their organizations in policies aimed at combating discrimination.

As part of the International Day for People of African Descent and the Second International Decade for People of African Descent (2025–2034), Race and Equality stresses that combating racism requires more than recognizing equality before the law. As CERD has pointed out, Cuba must adopt concrete measures to reduce poverty, vulnerability, and marginalization among people of African descent, strengthen equality in the workplace, investigate allegations of racial profiling, and ensure a safe civic space for those defending their rights.