Miguel Díaz-Canel published a video on his Facebook account showcasing his visit to two entities of the Recycling Business Group in the municipality of Regla, Havana, and the response was immediate: hundreds of sarcastic and furious comments flooded the post, with messages like "Let him get into one of those bags and self-export, to see if he stops causing more trouble."
The ruler described the tour as an opportunity to understand "the transformations they are implementing to export and generate income, while they begin to effectively address the challenge of solid waste management in Havana."
The post accumulated over 9,500 views and more than 200 comments, the vast majority of which were critical and sardonic, contrasting sharply with the official optimism.
Díaz-Canel visited the Base Business Unit "Alfredo Ramonal," which is dedicated to the processing of non-ferrous waste, and the company Desequip, responsible for imports and exports for the group under the Ministry of Industries.
The director of UEB, Sadie Jiménez Condés, presented favorable figures: an average salary of 40,000 pesos per month and profits exceeding 3,000,000 pesos accumulated until May 2026.
The regime also highlighted that the Recycling Business Group reported exports nearing 50 million dollars during 2025.
But the contrast with everyday reality was what triggered the avalanche of criticism.
Havana has been buried in garbage for months: the capital generates between 24,000 and 30,000 cubic meters of waste daily, but in February 2026, only 44 of the 106 collection trucks were operational due to a lack of diesel.
The minister himself, Armando Rodríguez Batista, had acknowledged in September 2025 that the situation was "unsustainable": "It is not contained; it is spread all over Havana."
While Díaz-Canel toured the facilities, residents from several neighborhoods in Havana reported between 26 and 40 hours without electricity and even up to 13 days without water.
"I see this news thanks to the fact that I was able to charge my phone at a nearby house that always has electricity, and I’m trying to find out right now why I have been without power for 26 hours and without water for 13 days," wrote a user.
Another comment summed up the general sentiment: "They go from visit to visit and stroll around while the population, powerless for more than 40 hours, watches their food spoil, unable to sleep from the heat, with children left without games or distractions."
The indignation also targeted the staged nature of official visits: "I don’t understand these visits, what purpose they serve. Wasting fuel and achieving nothing. As always, they are announced in advance and, well, oh surprise, everything looks beautiful and shiny."
Other users recalled the experience of the leader in Regla in February 2019, following the tornado that devastated the municipality, when Díaz-Canel literally had to flee the scene while neighbors shouted at him, "Shameless!", in an event that sparked a wave of memes and turned Regla into a symbol of the chasm between official discourse and Cuban reality.
In those same days, protests and pot-banging demonstrations erupted in multiple neighborhoods of Havana and in the town of Levisa, Mayarí, while the Electric Union reported an availability of only 960 MW against a demand of 2,595 MW.
"The problem is not the garbage on the street; it's the garbage that governs us," declared another user in the post by the leader.
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