Every month, thousands of elderly Cubans go through the same scene: waking up early, standing in endless lines in front of state banks, and waiting for hours—sometimes under the sun, sometimes since dawn—to collect a pension that barely lasts a few days. A video shared on social media once again documents this reality that is repeated throughout the country.
«Look at the huge lines that Cubans have to wait in to collect their salary for all the work they did over the month. Retired seniors have to be at the banks early and face those long lines where people even get into fights, arguing because they want to cut in line,» describes Milenis García, the author of the video, recorded from inside a vehicle that drives along a street featuring colonial architecture, with pedicabs parked and a long line of people on the sidewalk.
The images depict what activists and citizens are already describing as a "monthly postcard" of the collapse of the Cuban social security system.
The phenomenon is repeating itself in Camagüey, Holguín, Cienfuegos, Havana, Santiago de Cuba, and Matanzas. In Camagüey, elderly people are sleeping at the bank's entrance to secure a spot in line, worsened by blackouts that close the branches early. In Cienfuegos, the authorities have deployed police to organize the lines of retirees in front of the banks. In Havana, there have been reports of pushing and chaos at the branches as pensioners try to collect their funds.
The economic backdrop makes the situation even more dramatic. Following the increase approved by Resolution 14/2025 of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the minimum pension was set at 4,000 Cuban pesos per month starting from September 2025. However, inflation and the devaluation of the peso have rapidly eroded that value.
In May 2026, with the dollar trading at around 545 Cuban pesos in the informal market, that minimum pension amounts to barely seven or eight dollars a month, while the basic basket in Havana is around 12,000 pesos per person.
A survey conducted by the Independent Trade Union Association of Cuba in 2025 among 506 retirees in five provinces revealed that 99% claim their pension is insufficient to cover food expenses.
The banking system exacerbates the ordeal. More than 50% of the ATMs in Havana are no longer functioning, going from over 500 to around 200 operational ones. The presence of "coleros" — intermediaries who sell queue spots — leads to arguments and pushing among older people, many of whom have mobility issues or chronic illnesses.
The government partially acknowledged the problem with a pilot payment plan in private establishments launched in four municipalities of Havana, but the measure is not well known and has a very limited scope.
Cuba has approximately 2.3 million people receiving pensions —21% of the population— a figure that grows each year as the working-age population migrates en masse. According to projections from the National Office of Statistics and Information, this number could reach 2.5 million by 2026, further intensifying the pressure on a social security system that has been in collapse for decades.
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