The burning of garbage in neighborhoods of Cuban cities has become a daily scene amid the collapse of the waste collection system.
Recent posts on social media from Havana, Matanzas, and Manzanillo reveal a reality marked by micro-dumps, improvised fires, and increasingly difficult-to-breathe air.
From the Cerro municipality in Havana, the user warned: “Drown each other. Right now. This is Cerro.”
Subsequently, it was updated that an entire block was without power and that, through a window, several active fire spots could be seen. The shared images show columns of smoke rising among residential buildings.
In Matanzas, the photographer Raúl Navarro González described a similar scene, with smoke covering several blocks. “Before seeing the makeshift dump, my throat was already burning. Before focusing, the suspended ash could already be felt,” he wrote.
His testimony captures the concern of neighbors who navigate the haze with children and elderly people while the smell of burning trash permeates the streets.
In Manzanillo, the official station Radio Granma acknowledged the proliferation of micro-dumping sites, defined as points that begin with a single trash bag and grow into "mountains of waste."
They acknowledged that the burning of waste is a "dangerously frequent" practice, especially during times of drought. They warned about the release of toxic compounds such as dioxins and furans, which are associated with respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
In Havana, the crisis seems particularly severe. Only 44 of the 106 garbage trucks are said to be operational, resulting in piles of trash on the streets and corners of the capital.
In the face of the proliferation of flies, rats, and unpleasant odors, some neighbors choose to set fire to the waste as an immediate solution, without considering the long-term effects.
Experts have warned that the incineration of solid waste in urban areas releases fine particles and heavy metals that can worsen asthma, increase the risk of chronic respiratory diseases, and particularly affect children and the elderly.
Furthermore, the ashes contaminate the soil and can seep into groundwater sources.
Beyond the environmental impact, the testimonies reflect a growing social weariness. “The city doesn’t fall apart overnight; it deteriorates through small fires, in forgotten corners, in solutions that never arrive,” Navarro wrote, in a message that encapsulates the shared feeling of frustration among many citizens.
The normalization of garbage in the corners and smoke as part of the urban landscape highlights a structural crisis that combines deficiencies in public services with a lack of effective responses.
Fire transforms a visible problem into a more dangerous and invisible one for Cubans. Thousands of families are breathing contaminated air in Cuba today, and the government is not addressing the crisis.
The phrase “Drown each other,” shouted in desperation from El Cerro, serves as a bitter reverse of the biblical commandment “Love one another” (John 13:34), where Jesus defined Christian love as an act of mutual sacrifice and selfless dedication.
There, where the Gospel advocates for care and solidarity, the reality described by Cubans reflects both literal and social suffocation: smoke, abandonment, and a forced coexistence amid burning garbage.
The inversion of the Christian message is not merely rhetorical; it exposes the deterioration of basic living conditions that drive citizens to desperate solutions, even at the expense of the common good.
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