A state-owned company linked to the sugar sector in Cuba has closed its doors after accumulating four months of unpaid salaries, abruptly leaving its entire workforce without jobs.
Among those affected is the father of Diana Cecilia Martínez, a 32-year-old engineer who works at a Hydraulic Projects company in Ciego de Ávila, who reported the situation in an interview with CiberCuba.
"My dad's company sent everyone home. They literally said: the project is closed. It's the company that handles sugar projects, which belongs to the Ministry of Sugar. They definitely said it's over," Diana recounted.
His father is 64 years old and did not receive any prior notice before losing his job.
After the closure, she had to return to the workplace just to return the assigned equipment and tools. "In fact, my dad had to go there to return the supplies, puzzles, and all that," Diana said.
The case is set against the backdrop of the structural collapse of the Cuban sugar sector, which in 2025 recorded a production of less than 150,000 metric tons, the lowest level since the 19th century. In Ciego de Ávila, the 2024-2025 harvest barely reached 50.1% of the planned target.
Diana does not hide her fear that her own company may face the same fate. "Am I afraid? Of course I'm afraid, right? I’m only 32 years old. But the issue is that whether you’re scared or not, if it's going to happen, it will happen," she admitted.
The engineer works on basic engineering projects: aqueducts, sewage systems, and drainage systems. Although she describes her company as one of the few that still stands, she warns that the lack of fuel forces workers to come in only two days a week, as they cannot travel to the field to inspect lands.
His monthly salary is 5,200 Cuban pesos, a figure that contrasts sharply with the cost of a simple dozen eggs in the province: 3,600 pesos. "You go to one of my small businesses and have to buy a dozen eggs for 3,600, how much is left for you to drink?" he asked.
Diana also revealed that, implicitly, the company suggests to its employees to request voluntary resignation, as it cannot increase salaries. "It is suggested, implicitly, it is indeed said," she confirmed.
Despite everything, there is a hopeful caution regarding the economic reforms announced by Díaz-Canel on June 12, which aim to give more autonomy to state-owned enterprises in setting their own wage systems.
"Now there is a law driven by Díaz-Canel. There is a law where supposedly each region or state institution will be allowed to manage its own payments. Things that should have been done a long time ago," he pointed out.
However, Diana herself acknowledges the limitations of this measure in a context of power outages and fuel shortages: without production, performance indicators cannot be met, and salaries cannot increase. The crisis of the Cuban state sector lost 144,861 workers in the first half of 2025 compared to the previous year, a contraction of 7.8%.
"I like my career; I feel good in the work team. But when you see that I am a single woman without children, there are people who have families depending on them. And with that, well, they are going to have it even worse than you," concluded Diana, adding a human face to a crisis that affects thousands of Cuban families.
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