A local leader announced on TV Yumurí, the official television of Matanzas, that the government is working on the repair of the Giratorio and Belsay railway bridges, heritage structures that connect the central railroad with the port of Matanzas and have been out of use for years due to lack of maintenance and severe corrosion.
The official assured that "more than 90% of all the pre-fabricated materials for the reconstruction of these bridges" are already available and that progress is being made in setting up temporary facilities to carry out the work. However, he made the start of the actual work conditional on something that has no set date in Cuba: an improvement in the electrical system.
"As there is a slight improvement in the energy system, we will start working on the repair of the bridges, which opens the door to the port of Matanzas, a situation that is also quite complicated for us in terms of transportation," he declared.
The phrase unintentionally captures the state of Cuban infrastructure with precision: materials ready, declared will, and an impossible condition to fulfill in the short term.
The reactions of internet users on the official Matanzas television post reflect the skepticism and mockery of a population accustomed to promises that never come to fruition.
Some expressed that making the projects dependent on the recovery of the energy system amounts to acknowledging that the bridges will remain abandoned for years.
One of them summed up that perception bluntly: “The bridges aren’t going to be repaired because if we have to wait for energy improvements, we’re out of luck.” “We have to wait for an improvement in the power supply... we’ve lost the bridges too,” another lamented.
Several users reacted with irony to what they see as another government promise disconnected from everyday reality. "Not even they believe that, haha," one wrote, while another simply commented, "It's laughable," highlighting the loss of credibility that official announcements are facing.
"There is a great chance that it will be finished by 2300," joked a commentator, referencing the tendency to announce investments that then remain stalled or unfinished for years.
For many Cubans, the news wasn't that the bridges would be repaired, but rather that the government found yet another reason to explain why it still hasn't done so.
The Rotary Bridge was inaugurated on April 8, 1904, and was unique in its type in Cuba. Made with imported parts from the United States, its rotating mechanism allowed trains to pass without obstructing river navigation. Today, that mechanism no longer operates.
The Minister of Transport, Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, acknowledged in May 2025 that the structure "is currently no longer in use, with severe corrosion damage in key elements such as the upper edge and the joints of its framework," and that "the central pivot axis is highly degraded due to the accumulation of waste and lack of maintenance."
The minister himself admitted that "the rehabilitation of the bridge had been postponed for years due to a lack of funding and difficulties in hiring a specialized contractor."
The deterioration is not limited to railway bridges.
In May 2025, the authorities also declared an urgent intervention on the Versalles bridge, the only road link between the Versalles neighborhood and the rest of the city, whose collapse would split Matanzas in two. The structure, designed during the colonial era for cars and carriages, has endured increasing heavy truck traffic since the railway line was shut down.
The pattern is repeated throughout the province. The Hershey Train has been out of service since 2017 and has been repeatedly promised with no specific deadlines.
The energy crisis that the leader himself cites as a condition for action is, according to the UN, a top-level emergency: in February 2026, the organization warned that “fuel shortages are jeopardizing essential services across the country,” including hospitals, water pumping, and food distribution.
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