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The Cuban regime will turn to the fifth edition of the Festival Pa'Cuba in an attempt to save the National Aquarium of Havana, an institution that its own directors acknowledge "does not have the ideal conditions it once had."
The event, organized by Conex, the event company of the Palco Business Group, will take place from June 5 to July 19 at the marine venue, marking a significant change of location compared to previous editions that were held at Pabexpo.
For this reason, the National Aquarium of Havana announced on its social media that it would close its doors until June 5th.
The choice of the Aquarium was not initiated by the organizers: the institution itself requested to be the venue, a clear indication that it needs the event to survive given the government's inability to finance its recovery.
Armando Franco Senén, director of Conex, publicly acknowledged the current state of the facility: “The Aquarium today does not have the ideal conditions that it had some time ago: infrastructure and availability of animals, to carry out the activities that this institution normally provides.”
The deterioration of the facility is alarming and has been documented for years. In May 2025, images circulated showing the dilapidated state of the Aquarium: walls covered in mold, leaks, rusted railings, and a drastic reduction in the species on display.
In October 2025, a mother reported sick animals and dirty tanks: turtles with broken shells, a shark in a narrow tank, and fish tanks in ruins.
The organization Bienestar Animal Cuba described the situation as "deeply sad" and the facilities as "in deplorable condition."
To prepare the venue, work has been ongoing "very intensively" for about 20 days to get it ready, according to Franco Senén. All exhibition areas will be renovated, and iconic dining units such as the Gran Azul restaurant will be restored.
However, the dolphinarium will not provide services during the festival because its recovery requires an investment greater than what the event can contribute.
Alexis Fernández, director of the National Aquarium, acknowledged candidly that the festival represented "a very important opportunity for the center, due to the support we received to renovate and restore the facilities," implicitly admitting that the institution could not generate those resources on its own.
Franco Senén himself was explicit about the limitations of the operation: "The Festival and Grupo Palco are not going to solve all the problems of the Aquarium. There are certain situations related to the location, the specific challenges of a place like this that requires frequent maintenance, special treatments regarding its hydraulic, electrical, sanitary, and general infrastructure systems, which will not be completely resolved by holding the event."
The stated objective goes beyond entertainment: the organizers aim to "highlight the potential" of the center to attract third parties that can fund its gradual recovery, which reveals that the regime does not have its own resources to sustain the institution.
The program will include rooms to showcase matches of the 2026 World Cup, video game areas, diving and swimming workshops, and around 100 private enterprises selling products and services.
"We hope that the Festival will serve as a bridge to begin traversing that path, which, of course, requires resources, efforts, and decisions that go beyond the capabilities of that institution's team," concluded Franco Senén, summarizing in one sentence the magnitude of the state neglect faced by the only aquarium in Havana.
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