A 14-year-old Cuban boy died after jumping off a bridge over the Yayabo River in the city of Sancti Spíritus, according to information that emerged this Sunday.
The opposition figure Librado Linares reported on his account on the social network X that the teenager jumped from the pedestrian bridge connecting the Jesús María neighborhood with Colón, in that city in central Cuba.
According to their report, it was the neighbors in the area who found the minor and rescued him from the river two hours later, as "the state divers arrived late."
One of the photos published by Linares shows the moment when the body was rescued from the river, and the other shows dozens of people standing on the bridge watching the scene.
The post does not reveal any information about the identity of the teen.
As of the time of publishing this note, neither the authorities nor the official press of the province have provided information about the incident.
Data from the World Health Organization, cited by Linares, indicates that the suicide rate in Cuba was approximately 14.5 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2019, above the global average, according to a WHO report from that year.
According to the independent site CaféFuerte, in 2022 a rate of 12.9 per 100,000 inhabitants was recorded, according to statistics from the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) and the National Statistics Division of the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP).
"The number of deaths from self-inflicted injuries remains notably high, with an average of around 1,500 cases annually and a peak of 1,798 in 2021, apparently as a result of the effects of the pandemic and the worsening of the large-scale internal crisis," noted the report by journalist Wilfredo Cancio Isla.
In this Sunday's publication, Linares stated that "people over 60 years old are the most affected" by suicide. "This pattern has been consistent for over three decades," the activist emphasized.
He also stated that "the contributing factors are the economic crisis, the shortage of resources, and the deterioration of socioeconomic conditions. Depression and suicide find fertile ground in a Cuba plunged into the greatest crisis of its history."
In April, a minor identified as Yodelvis, between 12 and 14 years old, died after jumping from an 18-story building in Cienfuegos, as he did not have the medications he needed to treat his mental illness.
More recently, a young man named Alexey Calas Rojas jumped from the roof of his house in an apparent suicide attempt and was hospitalized in critical condition in Santiago de Cuba.
The baseball and softball umpire César Pérez Cruz took his own life last August, at the age of 72. The incident occurred after the supervisor was sanctioned during the National Baseball Series for a case of falsification of information regarding the presence of an umpire at a game in the Cuban tournament.
The platform Justicia 11J reported this month that at least 10 Cuban political prisoners have attempted suicide so far in 2024, three of whom died in their attempts.
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