A photograph taken at one in the morning in Santiago de Cuba reveals the precarious reality of Cuban retirees, forced to sleep on the floor in front of a bank branch in an attempt to collect a pension the next day that, besides being insufficient, demands hours of waiting and sacrifice.
The black and white image published on Facebook by Yasser Sosa Tamayo, shows several elderly people sleeping on the floor in front of a bank in Santiago de Cuba, at one in the morning, waiting to collect their pension the next day.
It is about a scene that is becoming increasingly common on the island: elderly individuals arriving the night before to secure a spot in line, with blankets, bags, and bottles of water, in front of a closed door with no employees present.
“At one in the morning, the bank was closed. They were not. They had arrived to cash out the next day,” wrote Sosa Tamayo, who described three or four bodies lying directly on the ground next to an ATM, seeking “the least painful position to spend the night.”
The author notes that there were no employees, no money, and no attention at that hour: "Only a closed door and elderly people trying to hold their place in a line that had not yet started."
What worries him the most isn't the image itself, but the normalization of the situation: "In Cuba, we have reached a point that should shame us: spending the night on the floor just to collect a pension. And the worst part is that almost no one is surprised anymore."
The phenomenon is neither new nor isolated. In Santiago de Cuba, it has been repeatedly documented during 2025 and 2026 that retirees begin to line up from six in the evening the day before to secure their turn at the bank, with wait times ranging from four to eight hours and individuals up to 80 years old in line.
Some branches serve only about 50 retirees per day, making overnight stays on the sidewalk a matter of survival.
Power outages worsen the situation: they reduce the functionality of branches and ATMs—over 50% reported as inoperative or out of cash at various times this year—and force the elderly to wake up even earlier to avoid losing their turn.
"Blackouts have turned these early mornings into an increasingly common scene. While some sleep, others stand guard outside a bank, hoping to withdraw the money they will need to get through the month," wrote Sosa Tamayo.
The minimum pension in Cuba is 4,000 Cuban pesos per month, equivalent to between seven and ten dollars in the informal market, following an increase approved in September 2025 that benefited about 430,000 people but remains insufficient to cover the cost of living.
Institutional responses have largely been symbolic. Bandec itself from Santiago de Cuba acknowledged that getting up early to withdraw money "poses a challenge" and proposed the "Extra Box" scheme — private businesses that provide cash and the bank reimburses them later — as a temporary solution.
In August, a café and snack shop opened in Santiago de Cuba to serve those waiting in line, a measure that does not address the root of the problem. The same pattern is repeated in Holguín, Cienfuegos, Havana, and Bayamo.
Sosa Tamayo directly challenges the social protection system and proposes concrete solutions: "If an elderly person needs a checkbook, someone should deliver it to them. If they can receive payments at home, let it be organized. If coordination is needed among the bank, social worker, mail service, and community, then let it be coordinated."
His conclusion summarizes the gravity of what he documents: "Last night, at one in the morning, I didn’t see a line. I saw elderly people standing guard just to collect the money they need to keep living."
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