They report an increase in homeless people in Santiago de Cuba.

Santiago de Cuba is facing an alarming social crisis that is evident with the increase in the number of homeless people sleeping on the streets.

This concerning reality was reported by independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta, who has received statements from Cubans on his social media documenting cases of homeless wandering individuals.

A young woman who recently visited Santiago de Cuba, after years of absence from her homeland, was deeply impacted by the situation she witnessed.

"These images broke my heart," said the young woman upon seeing elderly people and individuals with mental issues sleeping on the streets or in the doorways of businesses on the central Calle Enramadas, the main and busiest artery of the province.

The deterioration of living conditions in Santiago de Cuba is evident. It is no secret the critical state of the country's hospital facilities, especially those that care for patients with mental illnesses.

The lack of food, the shortage of beds for admissions, the deterioration of infrastructure, dirtiness, infestations of mosquitoes, cockroaches, and bedbugs, the shortage of supplies and medicines, and the migration of healthcare personnel to better-paying professions are some factors contributing to this crisis.

Many health centers discharge patients who end up on the streets because they have no home and no family member to take responsibility for their care. The state does not protect them; it leaves them to fend for themselves, living on the streets.

The image of elderly people begging for money or something to eat in the avenues, parks, and public places of Santiago de Cuba has become a common and desolate scene.

"The bad cannot be normalized," asserted the journalist in a call for reflection on the need for a profound change in the system to effectively address these issues.

This situation is not exclusive to Santiago de Cuba. This summer in Havana, a similar crisis was reported, with numerous people living in begging conditions under the Galerías de Paseo complex.

User Arianna Llana reported in the Facebook group El Vedado de Hoy the indifference of the regime's authorities towards a reality that is becoming increasingly unavoidable. "It's a shame that there is no institution that takes care of this," she noted.

The increase in poverty in Cuba is a reflection of the deep economic crisis the country is facing, the worst in the last 60 years.

While the Cuban government tries to hide this reality, social media has become a platform for citizens to denounce what is happening.