Building on Monte Street in Havana demolished

A property located at the corner of Monte and Rastro streets in Central Havana was demolished last Wednesday, July 3, according to social media.

For this reason, Monte was closed, they had a crane demolishing this building," wrote the user Lázaro Leyva in the Facebook group "Car Accidents in Cuba".

Apparently, the demolition work was carried out without prior notice to pedestrians and drivers, affecting the normal traffic along those roads in the Cuban capital.

The author of the publication expressed in the comments section that "this is the third in Monte, many more are missing, I pass by and pray that one of those walls that are still standing does not fall, let the sun shine a little more and you will see."

The terrible conditions of the buildings in Havana and the lack of proactivity in the island's government also prompted skeptical comments.

Let the crane not go too far, as moving it may cause the one next to it to go and possibly the entire block. The disaster is huge, and that could trigger a domino effect. I have experience with that," wrote another person.

A video featuring one of the moments of the demolition was filmed by the dissident and former political prisoner Silverio Portal, who stated that the constructions in Cuba are facing a "critical" situation.

This is what remains of a system. We live under the ruins, under death... Walking through the streets, thinking that a roof might fall on us, you are sleeping and the house could fall on top of you, you are thinking that your children might die, you are in prison and you are saying my house is going to fall. Portal detailed in the audio of the video.

The independent media outlet Cubanet joined in denouncing this event by observing the angle of the reuse of construction materials that are removed in these demolitions.

Through a video showing several Cubans carrying bricks, sticks, nails, rods, and construction filler powder, the mentioned media outlet adds that this helps for future constructions of Cubans affected by the shortage of construction materials, as they can also sell them in the informal market.

Among the few demolition actions carried out by the Cuban authorities, despite having a deteriorated housing system, especially in municipalities like Centro Habana and Old Havana, several activities of this type were recorded last year.

In May of last year, just over a year after the explosion at Hotel Saratoga, Cuban authorities finally began demolishing the houses located at Prado 609, destroyed by the impact of the tragedy, as reported by independent media.

Also, a few months later, the two upper floors of an old building in the Los Sitios neighborhood, in Central Havana, were demolished due to the risk of the building collapsing, according to official sources.

While the demolition of a building that suffered a partial collapse in the same municipality, due to the heavy rains that occurred last December in the Cuban capital, was also carried out before the end of 2023.