José Miguel Solís, correspondent for Radio Rebelde in Matanzas for 28 years and a familiar voice on news about the Cuban electrical system, posted on Facebook a message that encapsulates the collapse of the social security system in Cuba in a single question: «What if I tell you that in the end, I was unable to collect my pension?».
The post, made on Friday on their public profile, mixed irony and frustration, contrasting with the triumphalist tone of the spokesperson during years of official coverage regarding the supposed advancements in the energy sector and state institutions.
Solís is a well-known figure in Cuban state journalism. Specialized in the Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric Plant and the Electric Union (UNE), he spent years reporting on the achievements of the system. However, as the crisis deepened, his social media posts became increasingly critical.
In August 2025, he demanded fairness in the distribution of power outages after being without electricity for 22 hours and 15 minutes, describing the situation as “extreme inequity.”
In May of that same year, he criticized the "great paradox" of leaving 130 circuits without service for up to 23 hours right after synchronizing the Guiteras. And in May 2024, he denounced the tense situation of the blackouts and criticized the UNE for failing to keep promises during Mother's Day.
In 2026, the Union of Journalists of Cuba in Matanzas awarded him the Provincial Journalism Prize Bonifacio Byrne "For the Work of a Lifetime," an honor given at the end of a career that indicates Solís is either in the process of retiring or already retired.
His case is not an exception. More than 1.7 million Cuban retirees face the same ordeal every month in order to receive a minimum pension of 4,000 pesos, which is equivalent to less than eight dollars at the current informal exchange rate. This amount is insufficient even for a kilogram of chicken, which costs around 4,600 pesos in the market, while the basic food basket in Havana exceeds 30,000 pesos.
The banking system does not have enough cash to serve all retirees. Power outages render ATMs useless, and the digital banking initiative launched in 2023 excludes the elderly who do not own smartphones or have internet access.
The government of Granma admitted in June 2026 that it did not have funds to pay over 111,000 retirees in that province, resorting to staggered payments.
This Saturday, a journalist depicted the ordeal of retirees who spend up to eight hours lying on the curb waiting to receive their pension, an image that is repeated throughout the island.
The case of Solís illustrates how the crisis strikes indiscriminately: someone who served the system for decades with their microphone could not, in the end, collect what that very system owes them.
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