A tour of the José Martí Vocational Pre-University Institute of Exact Sciences (Ipvce) in the city of Holguín reveals the state of devastation that one of Cuba's most emblematic pre-university centers is in, with collapsed dormitories, unusable swimming pools, and trees growing among the rubble.
The video published on June 25 on the YouTube channel Leo's Travel, alongside fellow content creator Luix Alquimista, captures a landscape that blends nostalgia and indignation.
The dormitory blocks identified as units A, B, C, and D appear without windows, without steps, and with vegetation overtaking the structures. The sports courts are covered in weeds, and the three Olympic-sized swimming pools have not been operational for years.
"Everything is destroyed, destroyed, destroyed. Just as nature takes over everything. Look at how the trees are growing," says one of the narrators as he walks through the inner streets.
One of them studied there between 2008 and 2011, and notes that even then several buildings were in disrepair. Today, according to his own testimony, the destruction is complete in the residential areas.
"I am sure that these areas you are seeing here are uninhabitable at all times, because the destruction is too great," he confessed.
The central building, which housed computer science and science laboratories, was converted into a field hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Previously, units 1 and 2 operated as a school for art instructors, a polytechnic, and a pedagogical school. "Even so, it doesn't justify the extent of this destruction. A project, my friend, that was renowned throughout the country, and look at how it is now," laments the narrator.
"This is a horror movie. The saddest part is how many people have been through here. So many joys, so many experiences. It's truly madness," summarizes Luix Alquimista in front of the images.
In response to the question of whether the structure could be restored, the narrator of the video is skeptical: "There are many things that need to be done from scratch. Specialists would need to come in." Nearly 50 years after its founding, what remains of the Ipvce José Martí is, above all, memory.
The Vocational School José Martí was officially inaugurated on September 4, 1977, by the dictator Fidel Castro (1926-2016). It was the second largest of its kind on the island, following the capital's Vocational School Vladimir I. Lenin, and for decades it served as a national benchmark for academic excellence.
At the time of its opening, it had 75 classrooms, 14 physics laboratories, 12 biology labs, three Olympic swimming pools, two auditoriums, and multiple sports facilities. It brought together the best students from Holguín, Granma, and Las Tunas.
The deterioration of the Ipvce in Holguín is not an isolated case. The systematic dismantling of these institutions began in 2009 and was formalized by Guideline 148 of the Communist Party in 2011, which reduced the boarding system.
The Ipvce Antonio Maceo of Santiago de Cuba closed permanently in June 2022 due to severe structural damage, and the Vocational Vladimir I. Lenin in Havana is also falling into disrepair.
The collapse of the Vocational School in Holguín is also part of a series of collapses affecting the well-known Cuban City of Parks.
The Fernando de Dios Buñuel Sporting Ateneo is accumulating pools of stagnant water and weeds, and the Manuel Pirijod, in front of the General Calixto García stadium, is flooded and turned into a dump.
Moreover, the El Mambisito park, located in the iconic Mayabe valley, has turned into a collection of empty structures and the old Holguín-Gibara railway station is now a dump.
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