The garbage crisis in Havana was once again brought to light following a public statement by Cuban art director Luis Lacosta, who criticized the way a waste collection operation was carried out—and then abandoned—at the corner of his home.
In a post on Monday, March 2, on Facebook, Lacosta recounted what happened the previous Saturday when three dump trucks, a "sophisticated, beautiful" pit cleaning team, a water truck, and a collection team with a large shovel arrived at the site.
According to what he explained, the workers reported that they were coming from Marianao and that, "in solidarity," they would collect the accumulated garbage, which had not been removed for almost a month.
"Here is where we would start to be happy (with so little)," he wrote with irony. However, the enthusiasm didn't last long.
According to his testimony, the workers only worked for about 20 minutes, grouped some of the waste into a large pile, and then left. "POOF! They left saying they would collect it the next day, Sunday," he recounted.
Sunday passed without their return. "Sunday is over and again, nothing!" she reported.
For Lacosta, what happened was not just a simple delay, but a display of improvisation and institutional disorganization. "This seems like a great mockery," he stated, before asking: "If they were already at the scene on Saturday, why didn't they collect the solid waste? And what about the spent fuel?"
And he closed his message with a question that summarizes his frustration: "Is this how this country moves forward?"
The artist accompanied his complaint with two videos. In the first one, the collection team is seen using a mechanical shovel to move the accumulated waste.
In the second recording, made on Monday at 2:03 PM, it is noticeable that the large mound of garbage has been removed, but the area remained covered with smaller debris scattered on the ground, indicating that a thorough cleaning was not carried out and the area wasn't swept.
In the post, Lacosta invited those who viewed the images to draw their own conclusions about whether the problem can truly be considered resolved. His questioning suggests that partially removing the waste without completing the sanitation of the area does not constitute a real solution, but rather just a superficial gesture.
The situation described by the art director is not isolated. Throughout Havana, solid waste remains for weeks on street corners and avenues, creating makeshift dumps that have become part of the everyday landscape.
The lack of fuel for garbage trucks, the deterioration of the vehicle fleet, and the shortage of spare parts have been cited by authorities as causes of the service collapse.
In the absence of systematic waste collection, many residents have chosen to burn their garbage to reduce the accumulating piles, a practice that generates toxic smoke and increases health risks.
Last week, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz called on the population to participate in a massive cleaning campaign in the capital.
During a tour of the Marianao landfill, he called for "continuing the fight despite the difficulties" and announced the mobilization of more than 450 teams to support the collection efforts, prioritizing the cleanup of the center moving outward to the periphery.
However, the experience recounted by Lacosta suggests that the specific operations are not addressing the structural problem.
The accumulation of garbage continues to be one of the most visible signs of the deterioration of public services in Cuba, amid a deep economic and energy crisis that directly affects the quality of life of the population.
Meanwhile, the people of Havana continue to coexist with the waste outside their homes, hoping that the collection will be effective and sustained. As Lacosta resignedly wrote at the beginning of his publication: "I might as well wait sitting down."
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