Complaints About Pensions and Lack of Support Reach Díaz-Canel's Radio Show: "You Will All Be Attended To"

Unpaid pensions for months, elderly left to fend for themselves, and families with disabled children lacking institutional support were among the grievances raised by Cubans during the third airing of "Criterio Compartido," a radio show hosted by Miguel Díaz-Canel on Radio Rebelde. Meanwhile, the regime responsible for the nation's ruin continues to present itself globally as a champion of social justice.

This program, broadcast biweekly since September 23, 2026, serves as a propagandistic outlet, addressing individual cases in a spectacular fashion while leaving the underlying issues—decades of economic mismanagement—unresolved.

Among the callers, Ada Linares Mejía reported that her husband had completed his retirement paperwork in February but hadn't received any payments. After months of inquiries, she was told the computer system handling the files had "broken down."

Díaz-Canel responded with strong rhetoric, stating, "It's unacceptable to mistreat pension processes. We need to identify negligence and rectify it immediately."

What the leader failed to mention is that Cuba has over 1.7 million retirees receiving a minimum monthly pension of 4,000 pesos—equivalent to between seven and ten dollars on the informal exchange market—while basic living costs are estimated between 12,000 and 96,000 pesos. According to the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights, 94% of Cubans live in extreme poverty, with nine out of ten seniors skipping meals due to lack of funds.

Other callers shared similarly dire situations: Otoniel Aguilera Vázquez has been waiting for months for a response from the San Rafael Asylum in Marianao to admit his parents, aged 88 and 84; Mavi Susel pleaded for urgent aid for a mother with mental health issues and two disabled children; and Michael Muro Ríos, visually impaired like his mother, daughter, and wife, requested a place where the family could work.

Díaz-Canel assured them, "You will all be attended to."

A highlight of the program was the case of Regla Yudith Montiagudo, a mother who successfully petitioned to be recognized as the caregiver for her 35-year-old disabled son, who has diabetes and an amputated leg. Despite municipal authorities initially denying her this status, which is explicitly recognized as paid work under Decree 121 of 2025, Díaz-Canel's intervention led to the approval of home assistant services and the family received a wheelchair from the Quisicuaba project.

This case starkly illustrates the gap between enacted legislation and its real-world application: a mother had to appeal to the presidential program to secure a legally acknowledged right for over a year.

Labor and Social Security Minister Jesús Otamendiz Campos participated via phone, disclosing that more than 883,000 people were registered as vulnerable by the end of September, up from the initially identified 876,522.

In response to this crisis, the regime offers food packages containing five pounds of rice, one pound of peas, and one pound of sugar, supported by the World Food Program.

At the program's conclusion, Díaz-Canel spent several minutes condemning Washington's "pressure" tactics ahead of the October 28 UN vote on the embargo, describing an event organized by the U.S. delegation as "a clandestine meeting with a panel funded by the State Department." This pivot underscores the regime's real priorities: maintaining an anti-American narrative over implementing structural solutions to the poverty its policies have perpetuated for 67 years.

The next "Criterio Compartido" broadcast is scheduled for November 4, 2026. The regime invites citizens to share their complaints and concerns through the program's phone lines: 78384565 and 63403698.