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The recent case of Dr. Raúl González Hernández, creator of the anti-anemic drug TROFIN, reflects the story of neglect faced by many individuals in Cuba after years of loyal service to the system.
After decades of work as a scientist, Dr. González faced institutional abandonment upon his retirement. His daughter, who suffers from chronic anemia, cannot access the medication he developed himself. The doctor is forced to beg for his own creation. Can there be a more heartbreaking situation?
For decades, the propaganda of the Cuban regime highlighted the stories of famous athletes who had retired in capitalism, ultimately ending up in misery. Fidel Castro proclaimed that in the revolution, no one would face that fate; that athletes, scientists, artists, military personnel, and officials committed to the socialist project would enjoy a dignified old age. They might not earn large salaries, but they would not die in obscurity or poverty.
Every word was disproven by everyday reality. Today, those who devoted their best years to the socialist dream live in abandonment, like the horse in Animal Farm; they have been condemned to the slaughterhouse in their old age, when they are no longer of use to the system that exploited them.
My father used to say that retiring in Cuba was akin to receiving a bullet to the temple. And he was not mistaken. Retirement, instead of being the well-deserved rest after decades of work, is a slow death sentence, an execution without bullets but just as devastating. It marks the end of any social relevance, a direct plunge into oblivion, isolation, and utter poverty.
The pension that retirees receive in Cuba is, quite literally, a mockery. It's an insignificant amount that barely covers basic needs. Those who labored to build a country they never knew, and we will never know, are relegated to the dustbin of history. Meanwhile, the leaders of the regime who preached equality and justice enjoy privileges until the very end of their lives.
Who takes care of the retirees? Nobody, as my father used to say: "Everyone forgets about you." If you are fortunate enough to have relatives abroad, they will be your only salvation.
What happens to those who have no one? Those who are left without children, without friends, without neighbors who can help, are doomed to search for food in the trash, to sell what little they have left or, as sadly happens, to die of hunger and disease, in silence.
The streets of Cuba are filled with retired individuals begging, searching through garbage bins, living in dilapidated houses, malnourished and in inhuman conditions.
It is impossible to ignore the dozens of high-performance athletes, professors, scientists, and even veterans of the Angola war who struggle to get by on their pensions.
The abandoned ones of today are the same ones who were glorified in yesterday's speeches; those whom Fidel Castro promised to protect are now the face of misery in Cuba. The revolution stole everything from them: their jobs, their youth, their rights, and the dignity of their final days.
If you are in your 50s or 60s, you only have about 10 to 15 years of active life left ahead of you. Will you allow your final years of active life to go by without taking action, missing the last chance to create a future for yourself and to have a dignified retirement? Don't rely on the government, or on "the revolution," if that's still your mindset; it’s possible that in 10 or 15 years, you will find yourself in the same situation as those who are begging in the streets today.
Do something! You know that sacrificing your life for the revolution and socialism only leads to misery.
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Opinion article: The statements and opinions expressed in this article are solely the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of CiberCuba.