More than twenty retired sports legends from Sancti Spíritus will be able to collect their pensions through El Olímpico, a private business owned by former baseball player Eriel Sánchez León, through an agreement with the Banco Popular de Ahorro that aims to prevent these seniors from having to wake up early, traveling to a branch, and waiting for hours in line to access their money.
Sánchez's business, El Olímpico, operates in a rented space from the Municipal Commerce Company of Sancti Spíritus and will now become a payment point for pensions for the former sports greats of the main municipality, reported Cubadebate.
The measure addresses an issue that for many retirees begins long before they reach the bank counter.
María de la Caridad Zamora Clavo, provincial president of Athlete Care, explained that some had to leave home early in the morning just to get an appointment.
The modality, however, does not mean that Eriel Sánchez, former catcher of the Sancti Spíritus baseball team and the Cuban national team, will fund the pensions with his own money.
Your business is integrated into a mechanism through which economic actors utilize part of the cash available in their operations to make the payments due to pensioners, in coordination with banking institutions.
The goal is to make use of cash that would otherwise need to be deposited in the bank while simultaneously reducing the number of retirees required to visit branches, an experience that is already being implemented in other areas of Sancti Spíritus.
Marisley Martínez Pérez, manager of Branch 5232 of the Popular Savings Bank in the city, explained that agreements had previously been established with other economic players to facilitate the payment of pensions.
For his part, Sánchez explained that his decision to join the mechanism also has a personal component: many of the beneficiaries were a part of his own sports history.
Each one of those glories that are here today is a reflection of what I am going to do tomorrow as I continue to age, the former player stated.
Among them are former coaches, teammates, and individuals who were part of his training: “In each of these companions, there is a teacher for me,” he expressed.
In Sancti Spíritus, Eriel Sánchez assures that his involvement will not end with the monthly delivery of money. «I will not only pay them what these sports glories rightfully earn as retirees through their own efforts. I will also contribute to any other assistance they may need», he stated.
The former athlete also mentioned that he thought about his own future when he decided to get involved: "I envisioned a future where someone could provide me with the ease of not waiting in line and the opportunity to lend a hand and help directly," he stated.
Among those who will benefit is Jacinto Rafael González Peralta, known as Jacintón, who is about to turn 85 years old.
The former basketball player was part of the Cuban team that participated in the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games and two years earlier had reached the podium at the Central American Games of Cerro Pelado.
Over the years, going to the bank in person became an increasingly difficult task for him.
For a time, I had managed to resolve things through transfers whenever circumstances allowed.
“Nobody ever thought these things could happen. They are distinctions they grant us, recognition that allows us to feel more at ease in our retirement years, which makes life much easier for us,” he expressed about the new alternative.
The inclusion of private businesses in this type of functions is part of the 176 economic and social transformations presented by the Cuban government in June.
Within the designated Axis 8, focused on social transformations, it is established that state and private economic actors, both national and foreign, participate in community benefit actions through financial, material, and service contributions.
One of the planned applications is to support pension payments through agreements with banks.
That scheme started to gain more traction in July, when it was announced that local economic actors would participate in the payment of pensions for retirees living in their communities, amid issues of cash availability and the difficulties of the Cuban banking system.
The formula had already started to appear in other provinces. In August, a private bar in Amancio, Las Tunas, became a payment point for pensions.
Five self-employed workers initially took on the payment of pensions for more than 40 individuals.
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