Betty González Navarro, a Cuban living in an informal settlement near Havana's airport, reported in a video published on Instagram that officials from Urban Planning arrived in her community to warn them that they must leave their homes as they are considered illegal constructions.
Betty has been living in that place for about a year. She acknowledges that it is an illegal construction but explains that they built their wooden house with their own resources and at a significant personal cost, because they have nowhere else to live.
"It's sad to know that after fighting and building something with sacrifice, because they don’t understand what one has to do to even have a wooden house, they come to want to demolish it all," he expressed.
During the visit of the officials, who were conducting what the regime calls "popular control", one of them stated that since 2024 they have been warning that construction is not allowed in that area.
"You cannot build here, you cannot create housing, and yet you continue to occupy more space," said the official.
The population understands that regulations may exist, but the State does not provide real solutions to the housing problem.
Betty confronted the official, reminding him that a representative from the Ministry of Housing had told them the previous year that the lands had been "released" and that they could indeed build. However, an official responded that "Housing does not authorize anything" and threatened to investigate and charge that supposed person who contradicted him.
When Betty tried to record the situation, the officials forbade her. Even a police officer tried to take her phone away.
"They kicked me out by the guard because I was recording, and according to them, I wasn't committing any crime. Here was my mom simply arguing because they mentioned that we had to demolish and we had to go where we had the address from the identity card. Many of them (the police) are from the east just like us," said the young woman from Guantánamo.
"If we come to other provinces, it's because we had needs and were even worse off in our homeland. According to them, we could request land, but where do we request land? My mother had six small children, and despite requesting it so many times, she was never given any, neither in Guantánamo nor here in Havana. So, if one doesn't build by their own means, what do we do? I don't understand the purpose of these people," said Betty.
The post sparked a flood of reactions. "It’s an abuse what they have against the Cuban people," wrote a follower. Another pointed out the central contradiction of the issue: "Why don’t they let them build if the government doesn’t provide any blocks to have their little house?"
A third party claimed: "Go to the center of Havana and take care of the collapses, of building, instead of continuing to ruin and destroy the lives of people who are trying to get ahead with their limited resources."
There were also those who questioned the essence of the matter: "Violence is not just physical. Mental violence is what has been inflicted on a people for more than 60 years, on an entire youth, the elderly, children, on a whole country."
And another comment pointed out, ironically, that there will be no eviction because the regime lacks the resources for that. "Don't worry, Mimi, there isn't even fuel to put in a backhoe right now."
Betty's case reflects a structural housing crisis that the regime itself acknowledges but does not resolve.
The housing deficit in Cuba exceeds 800,000 units, there are 961 informal neighborhoods on the island, and of these, 513 have no official recognition.
In the first five months of 2025, more than 10,000 urban violations were recorded. Despite this, the government imposes fines and threatens demolitions without providing real alternatives to the affected families.
Díaz-Canel acknowledged in 2019 that housing is the main social issue accumulated in Cuba, while calling for a firm hand against urban irregularities, a contradiction that cases like that of Betty González Navarro continue to highlight years later.
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