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A text published on Saturday by the writer and art critic Jorge de Mello ignited outrage on social media by denouncing that elderly Cubans are the ones making the greatest sacrifices under the economic reforms announced by the regime, a package of 176 measures that, according to its critics, does not take into account those who have aged without the ability to accumulate wealth.
" We are the white lambs that the powerful have chosen to sacrifice on the altar of their insufficient and belated reforms," wrote De Mello in the text titled From My Diary, which circulated widely among Cubans both on and off the Island.
The author posed questions that resonated with his readers: "In which section of the reform is it specified what will happen to those of us who have neither stolen nor led a double life, and who, moreover, have been prohibited from accumulating wealth?"
The comments on De Mello's post reflected a deep generational wound.
"They have betrayed that generation that became literate, harvested sugarcane, went to war, debated politics with their children during the Special Period, and resigned themselves to wishing their grandchildren happy birthdays over WhatsApp. They will not be forgiven," wrote a reader.
Another pointed out the central paradox of the reforms: "The same powerful figures of today, who have the money to invest, will be the ones to divide the pie, but now openly and shamelessly. And for the average person, well, they can just deal with it, die, or continue being the average person."
A third voice pointed to the abandonment of those who followed the rules of the system: "Those who obeyed the rules, worked honestly, and renounced personal advancement for the collective good are now the most abandoned. A society that leaves its elders behind is not reforming; it is admitting its moral failure."
Anger is grounded in concrete numbers. The minimum pension in Cuba is 3,056 Cuban pesos per month—about 4.40 dollars at the informal exchange rate of 695 Cuban pesos per dollar—while the minimum basic basket for two people in Havana reached 41,735 pesos in 2025, according to journalistic estimates.
On Wednesday, the ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel announced that the basic food basket will no longer be universal and will be restricted to retirees, families with chronically ill children, and vulnerable individuals, marking the largest reduction in rationing since its establishment in 1962.
The reform package, approved at the Extraordinary Plenary of the Communist Party on Tuesday, June 17, and ratified by the National Assembly the following day, includes the opening up to private banking, the removal of limits for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and the authorization for Cubans abroad to invest—measures that primarily benefit those with capital.
On Thursday, the regime additionally presented the measure that requires private companies to finance pensions, nursing homes, and social dining facilities, thereby acknowledging its own inability. The Granma government admitted this month that it did not have the more than 400 million pesos necessary to pay its 111,000 retirees.
Abandonment also has a structural dimension. Cuba is the oldest country in Latin America, with 25.7% of its population aged 60 or older by the end of 2024, while massive emigration has reduced the population to 9.74 million and left thousands of elderly people without supportive family networks.
The family care system cafeterias, the last support network for many of them, have been cooking with firewood for months due to a lack of gas and are surviving on international donations.
Meanwhile, countless Cubans on social media bury the official triumphalism and the announcements of reforms that leave unanswered the question that De Mello left unanswered: "How are we going to pay for our needs, who will cover the expenses of the defeated in this story?"
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