When Miguel Díaz-Canel defended the recent increase in salaries and pensions, he stated that the measure demonstrated that the economic transformations driven by his government "protect those in the most difficult situations" and the most vulnerable sectors of the population.
But the content of the , which publishes the new salary scales for the budgeted sector, paints a broader picture.
The resolution approved by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security does not establish an increase focused solely on low-income workers. On the contrary, it updates the salaries of the 32 occupational groups that make up the budgeted sector scale, from Group I, corresponding to the minimum wage, to Group XXXII, which includes the highest salaries.
The monthly minimum wage increases from 2,100 to 3,210 Cuban pesos, a rise of nearly 53%. However, that same percentage is applied practically across the entire salary pyramid.
Thus, a worker from Group I will receive 3,210 pesos; a position from Group XXII will now earn 8,880 pesos; while roles included in Group XXXII will reach 14,535 pesos per month.
The measure also benefits technicians, specialists, administrative staff, operators, service personnel, and ' cadres', without establishing differences in the percentage of the increase.
A contradiction with the official discourse
The breadth of the measure raises an inevitable question.
If the salary increase was presented as a policy aimed at protecting those in the most vulnerable situations, why does the benefit also extend to the entire salary structure of the State, including managerial positions and the highest income categories within the budgeted sector?
The Gaceta makes no distinctions based on income levels and does not limit the increase to the lowest wages. The update applies to all groups outlined in the salary scale.
This does not mean that everyone receives the same absolute increase. Those in the higher tiers receive larger increments in pesos because they start from higher salaries, even though the percentage is nearly identical across the board.
The 'squares' are also among the beneficiaries
One of the most notable aspects is the inclusion of the 'specialists', an occupational category that the regulations themselves place between groups XVII and XXII.
With the new scale, their salaries now range from 7,045 to 8,880 pesos per month, compared to the 4,610 and 5,810 pesos they received previously.
The inclusion of the 'frameworks' within the increase has sparked debate, especially since it pertains to the management structure responsible for directing organizations, institutions, and state enterprises, as well as implementing the guidelines of the government and the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC).
For years, Díaz-Canel himself has publicly called on officials to be more sensitive, reduce bureaucracy, uphold ethics, and manage more efficiently, while the government has acknowledged issues of corruption, administrative stagnation, and a decline in political work at various levels of the State.
An increasingly questioned structure
The decision also comes at a time of growing wear and tear on the political structures of the regime.
In recent years, leaders of the PCC have acknowledged difficulties in recruiting new members, the existence of hundreds of workplaces without party nuclei, and the reluctance of many young people to join the Union of Young Communists and subsequently the Party.
At the same time, much of the citizens' dissatisfaction expressed on social media and in independent media is directed against the state bureaucracy and leadership structures, which many Cubans perceive as disconnected from the everyday issues of the population and excessively focused on political and ideological control.
An unanswered question
The Official Gazette leaves no doubt about the scope of the increase: all workers in the budgeted sector will receive a salary update.
The question arises when comparing that fact with the political discourse used to justify the measure.
If the increase demonstrates, as Diaz-Canel stated, the regime's willingness to protect those in the most difficult situations, the design of the new salary scale leads to a conclusion that is hard to overlook: the protection announced by the Government also extends to the entire labor structure of the State, including its 'cadres', executives, and the highest-paid groups in the budgeted sector.
In a country where the minimum wage continues to amount to just a few dollars in the informal exchange rate, and where the cost of basic products vastly exceeds the purchasing power of millions of families, the debate is no longer solely about the amount of the increase, but rather about the criteria used to define who the "most vulnerable" really are.
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