The Cuban mother Regla Yudith Montiagudo achieved on Wednesday what municipal authorities had denied her for months: formal recognition as a paid caregiver for her son with a disability, after presenting her case on the radio program of Miguel Díaz-Canel on Radio Rebelde.
Yudith had called for the second broadcast of «Shared Criteria» on October 7, to report that municipal authorities were preventing her from obtaining the recognition explicitly outlined in Decree 121 of 2025 from the Council of Ministers. Her son was born with an intellectual disability and, after developing diabetes and a blood disorder, had a leg amputated, with his condition worsening over the past two years.
At that time, Díaz-Canel responded on air: "How can we not ensure that a mother takes care of her child? We are fully aware of the concerns a mother has for her child. And yes, of course you will be able to, and you will be attended to in the coming days, and you will get a solution."
The promise was fulfilled on October 12, when representatives from the Ministry of Labor and Social Security visited Yudith and approved the home assistance service. Additionally, she received a wheelchair donated by the sociocultural project Quisicuaba.
In the third episode of the program, aired this Wednesday, the ruler confirmed the outcome: "Therefore, Yudith is now the caretaker of her son."
He insisted that in addition to solving the problem, lessons must be learned to prevent other families from facing similar situations, and he called for decision-makers to be more sensitive. "And it has to be done swiftly, without obstacles, with a focus on solutions rather than justifications."
He also questioned the rigidity in applying the laws: "If there is a rule that hinders our response to a particular situation, we need to find an exception to the rule by interpreting it, or we change the rule."
The tragedy of being vulnerable in Cuba
In the same broadcast, the Minister of Labor and Social Security, Jesús Otamendiz Campos, presented figures that illustrate the magnitude of the social problem: more than 883,000 people were registered as being in a vulnerable situation at the end of September, compared to the 876,522 initially identified in the characterization process.
According to Otamendiz, vulnerability does not solely depend on income—referencing an income per capita of around 4,000 pesos per month—but also on illnesses, disabilities, age, and lack of support networks. He also reported on the planned distribution of food packages for the most vulnerable: five pounds of rice, one pound of peas, and one pound of sugar, with support from the World Food Programme.
During the broadcast, five citizens also called in with specific cases: a visually impaired individual requesting a job placement, a teacher whose husband has not received his pension for months, a man seeking institutional care for his parents aged 88 and 84, and a woman who reported the situation of a mother with mental health issues and two children with disabilities.
Díaz-Canel promised attention for everyone and criticized the delays in pension payments: "It makes no sense for there to be mistreatment in the handling of retirement. We need to see the indifference here, we need to see who made the mistake and will be corrected."
What the case of Yudith teaches
Yudith's case illustrates a contradiction: a regulation approved to protect family caregivers was ignored by local structures until the mother directly appealed to the presidential program.
The legislation already includes compensation for family members who care for children with severe disabilities, as long as they meet certain requirements. However, the woman reported in October that "in the municipality, they tell me that I cannot be my son's caregiver," without explaining the reasons for that denial.
Decree 121 of 2025 recognizes the family care of children with severe, permanent, and irreversible disabilities as paid work. It allows mothers, fathers, grandparents, guardians, or other support persons to be hired by the Assurance and Support Unit of the Local People's Power Administration, with labor rights and social security coverage funded by the State Budget.
But the practical application clashes with bureaucracy: the disability must be certified by the municipal Public Health system, and the family caregiver must be authorized by the Municipal Directorate of Labor and Social Security, a process that, in practice, leaves many families without real access to the benefit.
The fact that a mother had to call the radio program to claim a legally recognized right for over a year illustrates starkly the obstacles faced in the implementation of that legislation.
The program, which Díaz-Canel launched on September 23 as a space for citizen participation, has already had three editions in which Cubans have presented issues to the leader that ordinary institutions do not resolve. The next edition is scheduled for Wednesday, November 4.
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