According to the last population census of 2012, in the whole country nearly 1,200 Cubans lived on the streets, with a prevalence of elderly and disabled people.
In Cuba, according to data from the Ministry of Public Health, almost 2.3 million people are over 60 years old, which represents about 21% of the total population, and among them, more than 340,000 live alone.
The elderly in Cuba could be divided into several fundamental groups: those who are cared for and loved by their relatives; those who live alone and staying at home is not an option; those who continue to work because the pension they receive does not guarantee basic needs; and those who have been left to fend for themselves on the streets for different reasons.
There is a protocol established since 2015 for the reception, diagnosis, care and social reintegration of homeless people. These Social Protection Centers could be a solution for many homeless people, however the vast majority prefer to flee, for fear of being transferred to psychiatric centers, or sent back to their relatives, if necessary. Many then choose to stay on the street, drugged by alcohol of the worst quality imaginable, their own refuge from the reality they live.
The Havana Protection Center has a capacity of 500 people and is the largest in the country. Six other provinces have similar institutions, but none offer a permanent solution, these institutions are not shelters, so they must give a quick solution to each case that is presented to them and if not, these people return to the street, because they usually resist institutionalization, to establish a conventional life or to accept social norms.
On the other hand, people over 60 who are totally helpless should or could be placed in homes; but the capacity to admit them does not adjust to the rate at which Cuba is aging.
The presence of beggars everywhere asking for money to eat or rummaging through trash cans, at the cost of illness, is common on the streets of Havana and other cities in Cuba today.
Beggars are more likely to wander in areas near public service facilities such as cafeterias, railway stations, bus stations and small food shops, and especially in places with an influx of tourists, waiting for help from people.
The authorities' strategy to end this social problem has not worked as hoped, despite the increasing search for home ownership solutions for people who do not have the option of a roof, and who, in times of pandemic, cannot stay at home. There is still much work to be done on this issue.
In Havana, the government often gathers beggars who come from other provinces, to return them to their respective territories, with their families or health institutions. However, these homeless people soon return, by their own means, to their usual territories in the capital, where this problem is particularly reflected.
The homeless and the itinerant are already an integral part of the urban landscape of Cuban cities. These characters excluded from society adorn the parks and streets, as a sad reminder of the inhuman poverty in which many citizens live, a reminder of the many worlds that exist and that we only believe are possible one day when we suddenly discover this reality.
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