Related videos:
The body of Wilber Fonseca Fonseca, a 53-year-old Cuban citizen, was found on the morning of this Wednesday along the railway embankment in Coldingen, on the East Coast of Demerara, Guyana, as reported by the local media News Source Guyana.
The Guyanese police have opened an investigation and estimate that the death occurred between the night of Tuesday and the early hours of Wednesday.
An autopsy will be conducted to determine the official cause of death.
What is known about the finding
The body was found face down on the south side of the embankment, next to the ditch. Investigators cordoned off the area, and blood was observed in the deceased's mouth, who was wearing black long pants and a blue hoodie.
Next to the body was a black backpack. His driver's license was found about five feet away, and one of his shoes was discovered over 20 feet from the scene. A cell phone was located in the pocket of his pants. Wilber resided in Eccles, on the East Bank of Demerara, and worked the night shift.
The hypothesis of the accident
The content creator David el de Kitty, a key figure in the Cuban community in Guyana, confirmed that the family reached out to him and he was one of the first to spread the news about the case.
"Sadly, this morning Wilber Fonseca Fonseca, a 53-year-old Cuban worker, was found dead by the side of the road. He was working in the early hours, and the information being handled by the police is that it was a hit-and-run," it was noted in a video posted on Facebook.
About the driver involved, he added: "It is not known whether he provided assistance or not; in any case, he fled the scene and the body was found this morning."
The crime reporter Niover Licea, from the platform NiO Reporting a Crime, specified that Wilber would have left his workplace around 2:00 AM, although he clarified that the hit-and-run hypothesis "has not yet been officially confirmed by the authorities and is still under investigation."
A Cuban family in distress
Wilber Fonseca was originally from Bayamo, Granma province, and resided in the La Hacienda neighborhood, near Santa Isabel.
David of Kitty described the situation left by his death as follows:
"They are left in a situation of virtually helplessness. Wilber was the backbone of that family, which had only recently been able to bring them here, his wife, his son."
She added that the family had plans to return to Cuba
"They were even planning to return to Cuba soon due to a situation they had there with their elderly mother."
The Cuban community calls for solidarity
After the news broke, members of the Cuban community in Guyana launched a campaign to cover funeral expenses. A Cuban woman identified as Gladys made a public appeal on Facebook:
"I kindly urge all Cubans, both inside and outside Guyana, who wish to assist the family of Wilber Fonseca Fonseca, who sadly lost his life early this Wednesday morning, to help with his cremation."
Gladys captured the migratory drama with an emotional phrase: "He was just one of all of us immigrants who left in search of a dream that sometimes turns into a nightmare."
A pattern of violent deaths among Cubans in Guyana
The death of Wilber Fonseca adds to a series of violent deaths that have shaken the Cuban community in Guyana over the past two years.
In May, Dainier Vegas Infante, 23 years old, was shot and killed at his workplace in Georgetown.
In December 2025, Ariel Betancourt Ramírez, 48 years old, was stabbed in an apparent robbery.
In August 2025, Pedro Alexander Frometa Slonchak, 34 years old, was shot by a security guard in a supermarket in Georgetown.
Guyana is the only country in the region that does not require a visa for Cuban citizens, making it a work destination and a transit point to Brazil.
It is estimated that between 5,000 and 7,000 Cubans currently reside in the country, the majority employed in the construction sector with temporary 90-day visas.
Only this week, Brazilian authorities rescued 108 Cubans who were illegally crossing from Guyana into the state of Roraima, in the largest humanitarian operation recorded in that region in a single day.
Filed under: