The Cuban activist Silverio Portal walked through a central portal in Havana, on Dragones street, until he reached Águila and published a report on Facebook detailing the extreme unsanitary conditions of the site: accumulation of waste, feces in public spaces, homeless individuals sleeping in the filth; and children and elderly people exposed to what is clearly an active source of infections.
The video, dedicated to President Miguel Díaz-Canel and in which the activist also mentions Chancellor Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, reveals an almost unsanitary public restroom scenario exposed to pedestrian traffic on a city thoroughfare that is faced with large crowds of people and small businesses.
As he walks through the area, Portal talks to passersby about the conditions of the place and receives responses that confirm what the camera illustrates. "Do you think it's reasonable for a child, like you, to witness this critical and dirty situation happening here? Because cleanliness, who is supposed to take care of that?" Portal asks an elderly woman who is walking through the site. She responds, "Oh, my son, we have been without water for five days, despite having a full cistern, because we didn't have electricity."
The activist also speaks with a man who rummages through the trash and is presumably begging in the vicinity of that place; he asks a passing child; he approaches a corner of the entrance that is filled with filth and stench. "Human rights... where are they?, Bruno [Rodríguez] Parrilla. [...] Where are the human rights? [...] that you speak of at the United Nations," the denouncer challenges.
His repeated complaint: "Look, look, look" and the clarification that this is happening "within a town" highlight the extent of the risk to the population. This reality is not isolated: another Cuban reported sewage invading a street recently, which constitutes a pattern of widespread urban decline.
The health crisis in the Cuban capital is worsening in a context of collapse of basic services. Just days ago, power outages left more than 200,000 Havana residents without water, while twelve families in Vedado had been without electricity for over 100 hours, situations that have become commonplace for the city's residents.
The problem of garbage is not new either. Previous reports from the activist himself had already documented the massive accumulation of garbage on San Nicolás Street, in the same area of Centro Habana. According to recent data, Havana generates thousands of cubic meters of waste daily, which the collection system, paralyzed due to a lack of fuel, is unable to manage.
Activists and citizens have been warning for months that trash is scattered all over the capital, with testimonies describing an unprecedented urban decline. The situation, although on a smaller scale, is being replicated in several provinces across the country.
The consequences for public health are alarming: Cuba closed 2025 with 55 deaths from arbovirosis, diseases transmitted by mosquitoes that thrive in environments with accumulated waste and stagnant water. Meanwhile, the government proposes no viable strategy to reverse this situation and suppresses citizen complaints with repression.
Filed under: