A young Cuban identified on TikTok as @guerrero_cubano2, known as "Guerrero Cubano," stopped on his motorcycle upon seeing an elderly man walking alone down the street and handed him all the money he had on him, in a video published this Tuesday that has touched thousands of people.
The elderly man was looking for the "Esperanza grocery store" when the young man approached him, gave him directions, and offered to take him on his motorcycle to the destination.
During the journey, the old man told him that he had been a fisherman all his life and that he has no pension or retirement. "No one bothered to help him," commented the young man with evident sadness upon hearing it.
The most emotional gesture came when "Guerrero Cubano" took out 200 Cuban pesos —all he had— and offered them to the elderly man, despite the fact that he had reserved that money for his brother.
"This is the last circus I’m going to do. I had it saved for my little brother, but well, I’m going to give it to you. No, anyway, I’ll buy one for my little brother later," said the young man in the video.
Upon publishing the clip, the author themselves posed a question to their followers: "What would you have done? I did what I could."
The video reflects the dramatic situation faced by elderly individuals in Cuba, where 79% of people over 70 years old are unable to have the three main meals of the day, according to the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights.
The 99% of Cuban retirees state that their pension does not cover basic needs for food, housing, and medications, according to data from the Independent Trade Union Association of Cuba.
Minimum pensions were raised to 4,000 Cuban pesos in September 2025, less than ten dollars at the informal exchange rate, while at least 30,000 pesos per month are needed to cover basic food needs, according to the Cuban Citizen Audit Observatory.
Cuba is the most aged country in Latin America, with over 25% of its population over 60 years old, and the mass emigration of more than a million Cubans since 2021—mostly young people—has left the elderly without family support networks, with 17.4% living alone.
This video is part of a growing trend on TikTok among young Cubans who document acts of solidarity with vulnerable individuals, while simultaneously highlighting the state abandonment of those in need.
In March 2026, activist Noly Blak distributed 65,000 pesos to beggars, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities in Holguín, and on the past April 17, a 91-year-old grandfather named Adriano was moved upon receiving basic goods from a content creator.
Even the Cuban Vice President Salvador Valdés Mesa acknowledged in 2025 that pensions "are not enough to live on," an admission that has not been accompanied by real solutions for the island's elderly.
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