A Cuban identified as Claudia Manzanillo published a video on Facebook in which she walks through the streets of her hometown, and it has gone viral, generating a wave of reactions among those who grew up in Manzanillo, Granma, and recognize the contrast between their memories and the current reality.
The clip corresponds to day 12 of her series "Caminando mi tierra," a personal challenge to document her city. Claudia introduces herself as "Cuban and from Manzanillo," showcasing her life "without a filter," including "the good... and the not-so-good."
The images speak for themselves: empty streets, devoid of cars or people, debris and accumulated trash, a large outflow of dirty water running from one corner to another, and buildings in evident disrepair.
"There was a time when this area was known for other things: the movement, family, the life that existed on every corner... And today, what stands out the most is the silence," the narrator points out.
Claudia summarizes the impact with a direct question to her followers: "I just want you to say what you think of these images."
The video particularly resonated with Cubans in the diaspora, who expressed pain in the comments as they compared their memories of the city with what they see today.
"These images strike a chord with those who grew up here, because they are not seeing a street; they are comparing a memory with a reality," the author summarizes, capturing a widespread sentiment that the material evoked among the residents of Manzanillo.
The deterioration that Claudia documents is neither new nor isolated.
In March, a collapse on José de la Luz y Caballero Street partially destroyed two homes in Manzanillo. In February, the burning of garbage and illegal dumps in urban neighborhoods were acknowledged even by official media such as Radio Granma.
In October of last year, residents of Manzanillo directly confronted the vice president of the Government to report weeks of water interruptions and contaminated wells.
Months ago, in August, the abandonment of the iconic cabaret Costa Azul was denounced as a symbol of the institutional decay of the city, alongside the El Arte printing house, another cultural heritage that is struggling amidst the debris.
Claudia herself has described the state of these spaces in other publications with a phrase that captures the tragedy: "From laughter to ruins... that's how this place ended."
The case of Manzanillo falls within a national pattern that the regime has partially acknowledged: official Cuban data from June 2025 indicates that 75% of the country's roads are in fair or poor condition.
In May of this year, citizen videos in Holguín revealed the same pattern: well-maintained roads near official buildings and deep potholes on the way to the provincial hospital.
Manzanillo is a port city with over 130,000 inhabitants, founded in 1784 on the coast of the Gulf of Guacanayabo. Its historical significance is undeniable: just a few kilometers away is La Demajagua, where Carlos Manuel de Céspedes initiated the war of independence in 1868.
Today, that legacy contrasts with decades of institutional neglect that no memory can disguise.
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