The official newspaper Adelante published a note this Friday about an event by the Cuban Revolution Combatants Association (ACRC) in Camagüey, where elderly veterans recalled the dictator Fidel Castro (1926-2026), while images from the event highlighted the neglect faced by that generation.
The event, framed within the official campaign "Fidel Among Us" to commemorate the anniversary of the historical leader's birth, brought together men and women of advanced age, many wearing military uniforms and decorations, who shared their memories related to the regime. The state media presented it as an emotional and patriotic tribute.
What the official media did not show was the contrast that the photograph captured: faces marked by hardship, aged bodies, and conditions that bear no resemblance to those of the leaders whom these same men served for decades.
When sharing one of the images on his Facebook profile, journalist José Raúl Gallego shared a reflection that sparked numerous reactions.
"Look at those faces, those bodies, those conditions, and compare them with those of Cubans their age who left the country, most fleeing from the system that these people defended," Gallego stated, who was even more direct in his overall assessment.
"The 'Revolution' is a lie, the biggest scam in the history of Cuba. If you still believe in 'the project,' look at yourself in this mirror," he argued.
The citizen comments on Gallego's post reflect a divided and bitter opinion. One individual, identifying herself as the daughter of a fighter, described experiencing acts of repudiation from her father's peers, and concluded: "I feel sorry for them, but not that much. Do you know who truly pains me? The children, the sick, the political prisoners."
Another comment noted with irony: "Now they have to get home and remove all that rust from the medals on their shirts without water and without detergent."
A third party summed up the situation harshly: "They are reaping the rotten fruits that they themselves helped to sow."
In the event in Camagüey, the president of the provincial ACRC, Juan Carlos Valiente Zaldívar, asserted that "neither coercive measures nor warmongering threats can destroy the people's loyalty to their socialist system."
The veterans seated in front of him, in their uniforms and medals, are the most eloquent answer to that statement.
The abandonment of former combatants is neither a new issue nor an isolated case. In October 2023, the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights documented two former combatants from Angola who were surviving by collecting cans on the streets to eat.
One of them, from the municipality of Minas, in Camagüey itself, stated: "When I turned around, they didn't give me anything, not even a veteran's pension. And I am sick; look at my feet. I survive by selling cans and eating whatever I can."
In May, a 78-year-old war veteran was dying without medical attention in the municipality of Guanabacoa in Havana. The assistance he received did not come from the State or the ACRC, but from opposition activists. The local polyclinic responded that "there was nothing" when supplies for his treatment were requested.
In July 2025, the regime approved the Decree-Law 105/2025 which strengthened the benefits for current and former members of the FAR, allowing retired military personnel to receive both salary and pension simultaneously, a privilege reserved for those who uphold the control system.
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