A mother and her son give lunch to an elderly man who was eating from the trash in Havana.

Amid an alarming increase in begging on the island, a Cuban mother and her son brought lunch to an elderly man living on the street.

The woman, identified on Facebook as Mayrelis Ramos Rivero, recounted that she left her house to buy an avocado and some plantains for lunch, and on her way back, she encountered the elderly man eating leftovers from a dumpster.

"I went home, finished lunch, and I couldn't help but bring him a small bottle of water and a plate of lunch. I don't have much, but he is a human being, and my older child and I feel relieved," she affirmed.

However, he said that despite this action, he feels great sadness seeing the increase of similar cases on the streets.

Amid the crisis shaking the country, more and more elderly people and other vulnerable individuals are surviving by taking things from the trash.

The elderly are one of the population groups most affected by the widespread crisis on the island, according to studies by independent organizations.

Cuba is currently the poorest country in Latin America, according to DatoWorld, a recognized international electoral observatory that evaluates parameters such as per capita income, access to health services, social security, food, and housing space.