A video posted on Facebook shows a massive garbage dump accumulated next to the building known as «8 plantas» in the city of Artemisa, where piles of household waste, debris, burlap sacks, and cardboard boxes overflow into the open space surrounding the structure.
The images were shared by journalist José Raúl Gallego on his Facebook profile. The author accompanied the video with a direct critique of the regime: «This is how the garbage dump at 8 Plantas in Artemisa looks. And what is the Cuban regime doing? It's too busy with its main activities: repressing and stealing.»
This is not the first time that this property has appeared in citizen complaints. In April 2026, the independent media El Majadero de Artemisa reported issues with the sewage drains in the same building, and the Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and the Press (ICLEP) published that its residents were "tired of the neglect" of the Water and Sewage Company.
The problem is not exclusive to that building or that neighborhood. The waste crisis in Artemisa has documented precedents dating back to at least 2019, when Provincial Community Services acknowledged that there was no suitable landfill designated, and that the collection trucks frequently broke down.
In 2023, the fuel shortage worsened the situation: several towns in Artemisa became dumping grounds because waste collection was limited to main arteries, hospitals, and schools.
By 2026, the collapse of waste management has become a national phenomenon. In Havana, only 44 of the 106 collection trucks were operational in February, while the capital generated between 24,000 and 30,000 cubic meters of solid waste each day. The crisis made headlines internationally, with The New York Times even running a story about "mountains of garbage, mosquitoes, and deaths" in Cuba.
Organizations like Médicos del Mundo have raised alarms about the risk of dengue, chikungunya, hepatitis A, leptospirosis, and acute respiratory infections associated with the accumulation of waste on the island.
Artemisa is currently experiencing a period of high social tension. On June 2, residents of Toledo held a protest against power outages lasting up to 22 hours a day, which resulted in a confrontation with a police patrol. The electrical deficit in Cuba reached a record of 2,153 MW on May 13, 2026.
The simultaneous collapse of electricity, water, sewage, and garbage collection in Artemisa paints the picture that citizens themselves describe on social media under the hashtag #CubaEstadoFallido. In the face of state paralysis, neighbors from other parts of the country have opted to organize on their own: in May, residents of Casino Deportivo in Havana set up their own garbage collection in response to the ineffectiveness of the state service.
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