They are seeking help for a young Cuban with a brain tumor

The internet user Christian Arbolaez made an urgent appeal on Facebook this Monday to raise aid for Alessandro, a 24-year-old Cuban diagnosed with a brain tumor, according to information provided by the patient's family and shared through .

The opening phrase of the message encapsulates the anguish of those around the young man: "Alexandre Montalvo Pedroso is only 24 years old."

The case adds to a pattern that frequently occurs in Cuba: families who, faced with the healthcare system's inability to provide adequate oncological or neurosurgical treatment, turn to social media to seek support.

The chronic crisis of medical supplies, medications, and hospital equipment particularly severely affects patients with brain tumors, who require MRI or CT scans, specialized surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy.

For a young person of that age in Cuba, the situation is particularly challenging. Oncological neurosurgery requires highly specialized equipment that Cuban hospitals cannot consistently provide, and the subsequent treatments depend on supplies that the regime also does not guarantee.

In many cases, families seek to transfer the patient abroad —usually to Mexico, Spain, or the United States— to receive care, which involves very high costs and justifies public aid campaigns.

This is not the first case of this nature that has touched the online Cuban community. In April 2023, a 15-year-old adolescent in Camagüey with grade 1 astrocytoma on the brainstem needed a catheter for hydrocephalus after three previous surgeries. That same year, a three-year-old boy in Santiago de Cuba with a brain tumor could not be operated on due to a lack of equipment in the hospital.

In December 2025, help was requested for a Cuban who had undergone brain surgery and was living on the streets without anyone taking responsibility for him. Fundraising campaigns on social media and crowdfunding platforms have become the usual mechanism that these families turn to when the state cannot — or does not want to — respond.

Those who wish to know more details about Alessandro's situation or contribute to his family can access the original post on Facebook, where the contact information provided by his loved ones is shared.