Cuban Military to Receive Enhanced Benefits: Higher Pensions and Dual Income for Reenlisted Personnel

While countless Cubans endure old age with scant pensions, the Cuban regime has chosen to bolster the privileges of its military personnel. A new regulation, approved by the Council of State and published on Thursday in the Official Gazette, eases pension calculations, authorizes dual incomes, and further prioritizes the military sector amid the nation's economic collapse.

The decree, identified as Decree-Law 105/2025, modifies the special social security regime of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR). It maintains that pensions will generally be capped at 90% of the last salary. However, this limit is waived for military staff with 50 or more years of service and pensioners with 45 years of service who rejoin the workforce for at least five more years, even if non-consecutively.

Dual Income for Retired Military

One of the most notable aspects of the new decree is that retired military personnel can work and simultaneously collect their salary along with their pension, whether in new positions or by returning to their previous roles. The decision remains under the discretion of the Minister of the FAR, ensuring institutional discretion over the process.

In a country where most workers survive on salaries and pensions that fall short of covering basic needs, this dual income for military personnel is perceived as an exclusive privilege, reserved for those who sustain the regime's repressive and control apparatus.

Revised Pension Calculation

The regulation also alters the formula for calculating pensions based on service length:

• The first 25 years of military service grant 60% of the calculation base.
• For each additional year, an extra 3% is added, reaching up to 90%, except in cases where the aforementioned exceptions allow surpassing this limit.

Conditions for Pension Suspension

The text also outlines new reasons for pension suspension:

• Failure to attend mandatory medical examinations.
• Not establishing legal guardianship if the pensioner is incapacitated.
• For pensioned widows, beginning employment results in the loss of pension benefits.

Meanwhile, the decision starkly contrasts with the reality faced by millions of Cubans whose pensions depreciate monthly. While civilian retirees scrape by on less than the equivalent of $10 a month, the government chooses to further protect and reward its uniformed personnel.

The measure also mandates an update to the entire military special regime regulation within 30 days, as well as a revised publication of Decree-Law 344 from 2016, which governs this exclusive system.