They warn about a young person with a mental illness wandering the streets of Cienfuegos.

An alert on social media seeks help for a young man with a mental disability who presumably escaped from his home and is wandering the streets of the city of Cienfuegos.

The young man has been identified as Brayan, a resident of Silverita, in the town of Ariza, Rodas municipality, and appears to be about 18 or 19 years old.

His situation has generated much concern among people who know him, such as former classmates and former teachers, as well as others who have encountered him on the street.

Through a post in the Revolico-Cienfuegos group on Facebook, a young woman named Betty Linny raised the alarm on Wednesday about the case, concerned about the conditions in which the boy is and hoping to find a way to help him.

"With the permission of the group and family of this boy, I have been seeing him wandering since this morning, he came to my workplace several times, and this afternoon I saw him again in my neighborhood, Ave. 50 between 45 and 43, lying in the street. I don't know his state, if he has any problem, but I am concerned, and I decided to help in this way. Please share to reach his family," he wrote.

According to the comments on the post, Brayan wanders around different areas of the city, asking for food and money, and sleeps outdoors.

Relatives and people close to him indicated thatThe young man is suffering from nervous illness or has an intellectual disability., and he usually leaves his house in Ariza, where he lives with his mom, named Lucía, and other relatives.

Some claimed to have informed the mother about Brayan's whereabouts, while others urged reporting the case to the police or other authorities so that they could take him home or find a solution to get him off the streets.

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of homeless people in Cuba, who live on the streets, while government institutions fail to address this serious problem. Many of them survive thanks to the charitable help of other citizens who provide them with food, money, and clothing.

In public spaces of Cuban cities and towns, the presence of mentally ill individuals, the elderly, people with physical disabilities, and alcoholics has increased, a reality that the regime cannot hide. The statistics, from one year to the next, demonstrate the growing rise of extreme poverty in the country.

According to data published last April by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MTSS), 3,690 people categorized as "vagrants" - according to the official designation - were recorded in Cuba between 2014 and 2023.

However, the economic and social crisis that the country is experiencing - characterized by inflation and shortages of basic products, especially food - suggests an increase beyond the official statistics, given the growing number of unprotected people who, for various reasons, turn to begging in churches, with tourists, or seek their sustenance in the trash.

In May, the Council of Ministers announced a “new” plan to remove beggars from the streets, updating its policy for the care of “vagrants” after 10 years of being implemented.

The government's measures include the creation of social protection centers in all provinces, where these individuals will be clinically evaluated and attended to by multidisciplinary teams.

The Minister of Labor and Social Security, Marta Elena Feitó Cabrera, assured that in the centers that are already operating in some provinces, more than 3,700 homeless people are being assisted.

Of them, "87% are men; 50% are between 41 and 59 years old; 30% are people with disabilities; 24% have some psychiatric disorder; 30% have high patterns of alcohol consumption; and 38% are under 60 years old without a home to return to," according to the data cited by the official.