A retiree reported on Wednesday that he was unable to collect his pension at a branch of the Banco Popular de Ahorro in the city of Holguín, where, according to his testimony, the staff closed service while dozens of senior citizens continued to wait.
The complaint was posted on Facebook by Pedro Lorenzo Hechavarría Pupo, who reported that he went to the branch located at the intersection of Aguilera and Maceo streets, in the heart of the Cuban city of Los Parques, to collect the pension corresponding to those born between 1945 and 1949.
According to their explanation, they arrived at the front of the line just before three in the afternoon, the office's closing time, but still ended up not receiving the payment.
The retiree also rejected claims about alleged improvements in the care for pensioners. "If they've told you that any changes have been made to enhance the situation for the elderly who are going to collect their pensions, it's false," he wrote.
He also questioned why the installation of solar panels hasn't solved the problem. "They installed solar panels... but we still can't get paid," he stated.
In his post, he described a scene that, he claimed, repeats itself every month. He recounted that bank employees communicated to them: "We have to close now, please," and ended the service even though there were still people waiting.
The complainant also stated that an elderly man fainted while waiting in line and expressed regret that senior citizens were left outside while there were empty seats inside the branch. He explained that he chose not to photograph the man out of respect for his dignity.
The comments on the post suggest that the problem may not be an isolated case. A citizen reported in the comments that at the bank in zone 6, "only about 10 people were served before the power went out; those elderly folks were crying in distress, and one fell into a puddle of dirty water and was pulled out all muddy."
Other comments reflected accumulated frustration. "They treat retired seniors without any consideration. The same story repeats itself every month... however, they are very punctual when it comes to closing time, and the one who is left outside just has to deal with it. There is no respect, no humanity," wrote another user.
A journalist who commented on the publication raised a question that resonated with readers: "When a worker from the banking sector goes to a health institution, will they be told, 'That's far enough?'"
Another comment compared the situation to countries in the so-called third world where the elderly have priority in transportation, access to cash ATMs, and usable pensions, concluding: "One detail, this is capitalism, not socialism, which professes equality and is the complete opposite."
"After living through this minute by minute, with cortisol levels through the roof, ready for a massive heart attack... for someone to come and talk about resilience and continuity... it's enough to laugh until you cry with no end in sight," summarized another citizen.
The chaos at the Holguin bank branch is not an isolated incident. The same whistleblower documented similar queues at the same branch in May with the message "A new month... The same problem."
In response to that collapse, the municipal government launched a pilot plan with about twenty small and medium-sized enterprises (mipymes) to pay pensions in cash, but the measure only reached 5,000 of the more than 52,000 retirees in the municipality, less than 10%.
The banking collapse is national. On July 14, a viral video showed the chaos outside the Metropolitan Bank in Havana, with Cubans fighting since dawn to withdraw cash.
The government of Granma admitted in June that it did not have 400 million pesos to pay 111,000 retirees, and Guantánamo reported a shortfall of three million pesos per day.
The maximum pension in Cuba is 4,000 pesos a month, which is less than 10 dollars at the informal exchange rate, while the basic basket exceeds 12,000 pesos per person.
More than 1.7 million retirees across the island rely on a banking system that month after month shuts the door in their faces.
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