Workers in Guáimaro have gone nearly six months without pay while 90 million pesos allocated for their salaries have not materialized

Employees in the Commerce and Gastronomy sector in the municipality of Guáimaro, Camagüey province, have gone almost six months without receiving their salaries, despite the Provincial Bank allocating 90 million pesos over a month ago to cover these payments. 

According to a public complaint shared on Facebook by independent journalist José L. Tan Estrada, the money was allocated but never reached the pockets of the workers.

The complaint describes the situation as particularly serious for those who are nearing retirement or suffering from health issues, as they cannot formalize their retirement while they have outstanding wages to collect.

The town of Martí, within the municipality, is where some of the complaints are concentrated. Residents describe it as a community ignored by the authorities, where official explanations change week after week without leading to any concrete solution.

Camagüey is one of the provinces with the lowest average salary in the country —5,564 pesos per month in 2025, compared to the national average of 6,930 pesos—, and has a documented history of unpaid debts.

In December 2025, the official newspaper Trabajadores acknowledged that 675 workers from Camagüey were owed salary arrears of up to 116 months across 13 state entities, including the Business Group of Domestic Trade, the same sector currently affected in Guáimaro.

In July 2026, teachers in Camagüey reported two months without pay, and the official response was brief: "there is no money." In Guantánamo, over 6,000 workers in Culture, Sports, and Education went without their salaries for July due to a cash shortage.

The director of the Dolores Concert Hall in Santiago de Cuba also reported that her staff had not been paid for over two months.

The regime responded to the crisis with a minimum wage increase from 2,100 to 3,210 pesos in July 2026, with actual payment expected this August.

However, independent economists warn that this figure is laughable compared to a cost of living estimated at over 50,000 pesos per month per person, which makes any state salary an insufficient amount to cover basic needs.

Meanwhile, in Guáimaro, workers continue to wait for a payment that, according to the complaint, already has a name, amount, and origin: 90 million pesos allocated by the bank weeks ago that simply have not materialized.