14-Year-Old Dies After Jumping from Bridge in Sancti Spíritus

A 14-year-old Cuban boy tragically died after jumping from a bridge over the Yayabo River in the city of Sancti Spíritus, according to reports that surfaced this Sunday. Opposition figure Librado Linares shared on his X account that the teenager jumped from the pedestrian bridge connecting the Jesús María neighborhood with Colón in this central Cuban city.

According to Linares, it was local residents who found the boy and pulled him from the river after two hours, as "state divers arrived late." One of the photos posted by Linares shows the moment the boy’s body was retrieved from the river, while another depicts dozens of people standing on the bridge, observing the scene.

The post did not disclose the identity of the teenager. As of the time of publishing, neither local authorities nor the official provincial press have provided information on the incident.

Data from the World Health Organization (WHO), cited by Linares, indicate that the suicide rate in Cuba was approximately 14.5 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2019, surpassing the global average, according to a WHO report from that year. The independent site CaféFuerte reported that in 2022, the suicide rate was 12.9 per 100,000 inhabitants, based on statistics from the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) and the National Division of Statistics of the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP).

“The number of deaths from self-inflicted injuries remains notably high, with about 1,500 cases on average annually and a peak of 1,798 in 2021, seemingly due to the effects of the pandemic and the worsening internal crisis,” noted journalist Wilfredo Cancio Isla in his report.

In his Sunday post, Linares stated that “people over 60 years old are the most affected” by suicide. “This pattern has been consistent for more than three decades,” the activist emphasized. He also pointed out that “contributing factors include the economic crisis, resource shortages, and the deterioration of socio-economic conditions. Depression and suicide find fertile ground in a Cuba plunged into the worst crisis in its history.”

Earlier in April, a minor named Yodelvis, aged between 12 and 14, died after jumping from an 18-story building in Cienfuegos, due to a lack of necessary medication for his mental health condition. More recently, a young man named Alexey Calas Rojas jumped from the roof of his house in a presumed suicide attempt and was hospitalized in critical condition in Santiago de Cuba.

In August, baseball and softball umpire César Pérez Cruz took his own life at the age of 72. The incident occurred after he was sanctioned during the National Series of baseball for falsifying information about the presence of an umpire in a game.

The platform Justicia 11J reported this month that at least 10 Cuban political prisoners have attempted suicide so far in 2024, three of whom died in their attempts.