Mirtha Pérez Díaz, a Cuban in a situation of economic vulnerability, took in an elderly woman who was wandering lost without anyone claiming her whereabouts.
The woman has been living in Mirtha's house for 15 days now. The case was reported by the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH) through its Instagram account @observacuba. It does not specify in which municipality this case is taking place.
Mirtha explains that the elderly woman, whose name and specific address are unknown, has been wandering for about a year. She took her in out of compassion, but she does not have the resources to support her and is not in a physical condition to care for an elderly person.
"I have shown up for them to come and collect her, but nobody is coming. I even posted about it on Facebook, and the family isn't appearing. I have contacted the representative for the district, but he is not responding, nor is the head of the government. I am ill. I have been almost disabled since I got chikungunya. I cannot take care of her."
Mirtha's health problems are compounded by economic hardships and the difficulties of feeding one more mouth at home. "There's nothing. We have no resources. I haven't been paid by the checkbook for two months. My husband works in education and he hasn't received his money for two months either. Can you imagine!" she expressed, distressed.
The wandering woman claims to have children in Havana, but she provides no information about where they live or how to contact them. The OCDH published a photo of her face in the hope that someone will recognize her.
The organization requested that anyone who can identify her get in touch as soon as possible: "If someone recognizes her or knows how to contact her family, they can reach out to the OCDH via private message."
Mirtha Pérez Díaz reported that she has asked local authorities for help on numerous occasions without receiving any response, which leaves her trapped in a situation she cannot sustain on her own.
The Abandonment of the Elderly in Cuba: A Structural Crisis
More than an isolated incident, this case reflects a structural crisis in the Cuban system of care for the elderly that has worsened in recent years.
Cuba is one of the most aging countries in Latin America: 25.7% of its population is over 60 years old, which amounts to about 2.5 million people.
However, the State has barely 156 nursing homes and 12,697 beds available across the entire national territory, and 51 municipalities have no services of this kind.
Although the government raised the lowest pensions to 4,000 Cuban pesos last September, that amount is equivalent to less than 10 dollars a month in the informal market, a sum insufficient to cover food, housing, and medicine.
The Ministry of Labor and Social Security itself acknowledged in March 2026 that "there are no resources to assist vulnerable individuals," while in May 2025, the Minister of Labor admitted that several provinces reported a budget execution of 0% in social care.
The OCDH has documented that 79% of people over 70 years old cannot have three meals a day, and that 99% of retirees claim that their pension is not enough to cover their basic needs.
In the face of institutional collapse, it is the neighbors — often equally vulnerable — who end up taking care of abandoned elderly individuals.
Similar cases have occurred in recent months. An elderly woman was found disoriented in the Havana municipality of Playa in April 2026, and another was rescued by neighbors just as she was about to die in May of the same year.
In February 2026, the regime authorized private companies and cooperatives to open residences for the elderly, a measure interpreted as an implicit acknowledgment of the collapse of the public system, but it does not resolve the situation for those, like the elderly woman taken in by Mirtha Pérez Díaz, who remain trapped in neglect with no one to respond.
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