Several internet users posted an urgent call for help this week for a girl living in La Lisa, Havana, who shows visible signs of severe malnutrition in Cuba.
A Facebook user identified as Rasshely Aguilar Aguilera provided her mother Ariana's phone number so that anyone can contact her directly.
The images accompanying the Facebook post show little Claudia with very thin limbs and physical traits associated with severe malnutrition, accompanied by a young woman who appears to be her mother or caregiver.
"Gentlemen, I don’t usually make this kind of post, but I feel that I should. This young girl you see in the photos is in need of help for her child. As you can see, the girl looks very delicate in health," wrote Rasshely, who clarified that she does not know the details of the medical case.
Before making the situation public, the author tried to alert several content creators without success: "I have written to several influencers sending them the photos, but I still haven't received a response, which is why I decided to do it myself because this breaks my heart."
The published phone number to contact the girl's mother is 50162794. Also, the Cuban Yai Savón, who visited the child's mother, joined the call for help and contributed assistance to the family.
The case adds to a recurring pattern in Cuba, where families without a response from the State turn to social media as their only means of seeking help.
In May 2025, a 10-year-old girl with cerebral palsy and chronic malnutrition in Guantánamo received community support of 881,000 Cuban pesos following a campaign on social media.
In January 2025, a mother requested humanitarian aid for her son Lucian Roger, a two-year-old who is the only case in Cuba of a progressive liver disease with chronic malnutrition.
In January 2024, help was requested for a 15-year-old teenager in Camagüey suffering from diabetes and severe malnutrition, whose mother received a pension of 2,600 pesos, which was insufficient for medications and food.
The crisis of child malnutrition in Cuba has shifted from being a silenced issue to one that is internationally documented.
In December 2024, UNICEF included Cuba for the first time in its report on child food poverty, revealing that 9% of Cuban children only have access to two of the eight essential foods for a healthy diet.
The National Office of Statistics and Information recorded a 74% increase in deaths due to malnutrition between 2022 and 2023, rising from 43 to 75 fatalities, while 90% of Cuban primary schools lack access to drinking water and provide unbalanced diets.
The World Food Program supported 1.3 million people in Cuba during 2024 in response to the worsening food insecurity, amidst an economic contraction and a shortage of foreign exchange that hampers basic food imports.
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