The prestigious Cuban economist Elías Amor warned about the serious issues entailed by the Cuban regime's proposal to involve small and medium-sized private enterprises in paying pensions to retirees, labeling the measure as a "hasty idea" and demanding its immediate abolition.
The initiative, driven by the Central Bank of Cuba and formalized by Resolution 74/2026 effective July 20, requires local businesses to take on the payment of pensions in cash using their daily sales revenue, with the promise of receiving a compensatory transfer from the State afterward.
In a conversation with journalist Tania Costa, Amor was unequivocal: "The payment of pensions is a state responsibility, and any involvement of private agents in this process poses serious risks."
The economist detailed the bureaucratic burden faced by owners of small and medium-sized enterprises: receiving the retiree's card, handing over the cash, deducting the amount, and notifying the bank, all without clear compensation or guarantees of timely reimbursement.
A Mipyme owner who participated in the program's chat, which airs live every Thursday around 12:30 PM Cuba time, explained the mechanism from the inside. "I am the owner of a Mipyme, and what is being proposed is that retirees bring their cards and we deduct what we provide in cash."
Amor confirmed the procedure and described it bluntly. "If I take my card and tell you to give me 2,500 pesos for the owner of the Mipyme, you give me the 2,500 pesos, deduct it from the card, and that's a bureaucratic task that you have to handle. Totally bureaucratic."
The economist also dismissed the argument that the measure solves the mobility issue for older adults and proposed a concrete alternative: that social services should take care of transporting those who are unable to reach the bank branches.
"I am convinced that things will gradually improve. But, please, do not force Mipymes and self-employed workers to take on responsibilities that belong to the state," he stated.
One of the risks highlighted by Amor is that the measure could become a pretext to sanction or eliminate private businesses that are unable to meet the cash demand.
A chat user summarized it like this: "It's a very subtle way of making them disappear; they did it with private barber shops, forcing them to buy products in dollars and to present receipts."
Amor agreed on the essence of the argument, although he emphasized that the private sector knows how to deal with challenges inherent to its activities; however, the payment of pensions is a responsibility of a different nature. "The payment of a retirement pension, which is what a person receives after a long working life, has to be covered by the state."
The crisis that prompted this measure has structural roots. The government of Granma admitted in June that it was short more than 400 million pesos to pay its 111,000 retirees, with staggered disbursements depending on the cash availability in each branch.
The scheme started as a pilot in April 2026 in four municipalities of Havana — La Lisa, Playa, Plaza de la Revolución, and Old Havana — and expanded to Holguín in May, where around 20 small and medium-sized enterprises served nearly 5,000 retirees. In July, it was announced as a nationwide measure as part of an economic emergency package.
The demographic backdrop worsens the situation: Cuba has 25.7% of its population aged 60 or older, one of the highest aging rates in Latin America, and aging in Cuba has turned into a drama with pensions that amount to barely nine dollars a month, and according to a survey of 506 retirees across five provinces, 99% consider them insufficient to meet their basic needs.
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