A video posted on Facebook by the Cuban internet user Alexi Triana reveals the deplorable condition of a street in the Villa María neighborhood, in the municipality of Guanabacoa, east of Havana, and has amassed over 47,000 views in just a few days.
In the images, Triana describes the route as "impassable" and compares it to the Darién Gap, the dangerous jungle between Colombia and Panama that thousands of Cubans have crossed in their escape from the country.
"Here in Villa María, passing through Darién. How is it here, Darién here is Villa María, let's see how it is. To get through here, you need to be a ninja. Everything is terrible," the author is heard saying in the reel while driving.
"If I hit a pothole here, everything will fall apart," the post gathered dozens of comments, reflecting the accumulated frustration among the locals and those familiar with the area.
The post gathered dozens of comments, reflecting the accumulated frustration among the neighbors and those familiar with the area.
"That's just sad now," said one of them.
"That's true, I recently passed by there and it's on fire."
"That's terrifying when you pass by," expressed another user.
"Further up, in front of the school, a rotten pit has burst and no one is doing anything while all the children walk by," reported another resident.
The deterioration of Villa María is neither an isolated case nor a recent one.
75% of the roads and highways in Cuba are in fair or poor condition, according to official data.
In the neighboring municipality of San Miguel del Padrón, residents reported in March 2025 a leak on Gabriel Street that had been turning the road into a river for years, despite repeated complaints to the authorities.
The Minister of Transportation, Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, acknowledged in 2023 the accumulated deterioration, which he attributed to the fuel deficit, lack of specialized equipment, obsolescence of machinery, and scarcity of construction materials.
However, the official acknowledgment of the deterioration of the streets has not led to concrete solutions for the affected residents.
The consequences go beyond daily discomfort. In August 2025, potholes and puddles caused police patrols to get stuck in the capital.
In Santiago de Cuba, nearly 70% of the roads are in disrepair, despite the 70 million pesos allocated for their repair last year.
Only 29% of the roads on the Central Highway are in good condition.
The impact on road safety is alarming. In 2025, Cuba recorded 7,538 road accidents with 750 fatalities and 6,718 injured, in a context where defective roads are a determining factor.
Similar complaints to the one in Villa María are constantly going viral on social media, ranging from mud pits in front of schools to streets turned into mudslides in provinces like Ciego de Ávila, but the government's response remains insufficient.
The comparison with Darién, recurrent in Cuban black humor, encapsulates the perception of neglect felt by a population witnessing their environment collapse with no solutions in sight.
"First, the streets of Cuba need to be fixed. There is nothing more important than that," wrote a Cuban user on Cubadebate. Another was more emphatic: "Until the streets are fixed, they can keep all the laws."
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