A video posted on Facebook by Yelo Romero showcases a tour of the neighborhood El Naranjal in Matanzas, and has sparked reactions among Cubans both on and off the island that blend nostalgia, sadness, and outrage over the visible deterioration of the city.
In the one minute and 39 seconds clip, the author walks through the neighborhood streets and expresses aloud: "I have never seen Matanzas so dirty and so dull." The camera shows workers standing on the sidewalk, unable to work due to a lack of electricity, and it stops in front of the so-called "Evita kiosk," a landmark of the neighborhood now in a state of abandonment. "What sadness and longing for what the Evita kiosk used to be," Romero says with visible sorrow.
Users' reactions arrived swiftly, reflecting the emotional impact of the video on those with roots in that neighborhood.
"Matanzas, so beautiful in the past and so dark and dirty in the present, my city is being destroyed, thank you for sharing," wrote one of the commenters.
Another user who visited the city last November confirmed the situation: "I saw everything in worse condition than when I left it, a lot of litter and a sadness I can't quite explain."
The images also sparked direct outrage against the system. "Everything is closed, everything is destroyed... it’s a great shame how it deteriorates without anyone caring... How horrifying!" wrote one commenter. Another was more scathing: "That’s what communism does: poverty, hunger, and misery." Someone ironically dubbed Naranjal as "the capital of OSKURISTAN," while another compared the state of the neighborhood to a war zone: "The way the neighborhood is, it looks like the Iraq war."
A former worker from the area summed up the collective sentiment: "I worked there for many years across the street, the old ECOA 10. What a destroyed neighborhood, my people are unrecognizable."
The video merely documents a structural crisis that the local authorities themselves have acknowledged. The garbage crisis in Matanzas has concrete figures: the Municipal Communal Company was operating in May with only 11 out of 24 active trucks due to a lack of diesel, with more than 50% of the street cleaners absent from a workforce of 1,400 workers. The municipal mayor, Michel León Rodríguez, publicly admitted on TV Yumurí a "debt" regarding garbage collection and street sweeping.
Regarding power outages, El Naranjal has a serious history: in December 2025, a building with 40 apartments was without electricity or water for 17 days due to a malfunctioning transformer. In March of this year, residents of several neighborhoods in Matanzas held pot-banging protests over the prolonged outages.
Urban decay is not limited to trash and electricity. Landfills have invaded the Armando Carnot playground, with damaged play equipment and the area converted into a water supply point. The accumulation of waste has led to mini-landfills, burning, and health risks, with reports of hepatitis A linked to the hygienic conditions.
At the national level, the backdrop is equally bleak: on June 6, Cuba recorded an electrical deficit of 1,960 MW, with seven out of 16 generating units out of service, according to data from Infobae.
"That's how it is for everyone, except for those in MLC. The one on Versailles, San Alejandro Street, doesn't even have a fence on the side; it's overgrown with grass and rotting. Nothing, the achievements of this system," concluded another commentator, summarizing what Yelo Romero's video highlighted: the systematic neglect of a city that was once the pride of Cuba.
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