A video posted on Facebook by the page Holguín Memories shows the condition of the makeshift dump in Reparto Zayas, in Holguín, with garbage and debris piled up on both sides of a deteriorated street, electrical wires crisscrossing the sky, and a person pushing a wheelbarrow through the waste.
The author of the dumpster video in Reparto Zayas states, bluntly: "I have no proof but also no doubts that it is the largest one in Holguín," and asks his followers to let him know if they are aware of any other equal or larger one in the city.
The problem in that neighborhood is neither new nor temporary. Since March 2020, residents of Reparto Zayas have reported the accumulation of garbage, which indicates that the deterioration has been documented for at least six years without any real solution offered by the authorities.
In 2022, at least five dumps were registered within less than four blocks between Reparto Zayas and the Gibara road, one of which spanned approximately 300 meters, located next to Consulting Room No. 1 and across from the telecommunications company's billboard.
The situation has only worsened. In April 2026, neighbors reported that the garbage bins catch fire at night in various neighborhoods of Holguín, producing toxic smoke that affects the residents.
In May 2026, the Los Caballitos playground was turned into a dump, and the old Holguín-Gibara train station, located right in the Reparto Zayas, also ended up as a source of garbage and debris.
Holguín, historically known as the "city of parks" due to its numerous squares and green spaces, has accumulated years of unanswered complaints: in October 2023, a large dump was documented in front of three schools, and Radio Angulo described the increase in dumps that same year as a "persistent and growing" issue with risks to public health.
What is happening in Holguín is a reflection of the national crisis. In February 2026, only 44 out of 106 garbage trucks in Havana were operational due to lack of fuel and mechanical wear, while the capital generates between 24,000 and 30,000 cubic meters of waste per day, far exceeding the system's capacity.
The causes are structural: chronic fuel shortages, deterioration of the vehicle fleet with no possibility of replacement, and lack of planning. The Prime Minister Manuel Marrero himself admitted on December 31, 2025, the institutional failure in the face of the crisis, and the government acknowledged at the end of November that year that it did not know precisely how much waste the capital produces.
The accumulation of waste brings direct risks of leptospirosis, hepatitis A, dengue, and oropouche due to the proliferation of mosquitoes and rodents in landfills.
The social impact has reached a level that illustrates the depth of the crisis: according to a report from Infobae from May 2026, thousands of Cubans in Holguín, Havana, Santiago de Cuba, and Santa Clara search for food in landfills and containers daily as a survival strategy. "There is an army of people searching in the garbage… it's at all hours, every day," recounts the testimony of a resident.
Filed under: