Images and videos shared on social media show Isla del Coco park in the Havana neighborhood of Miramar, historically known as Coney Island, in a state of total destruction, with rusty attractions, debris, overgrown vegetation, and the entrance closed.
A reel published on Facebook by journalist Guillermo Rodríguez Sánchez titled "Coney Island, Miramar, Havana. 2026, Year of the Triumph of Destruction" left countless comments of astonishment and sadness among Cubans inside and outside the island.
The images show the closed entrance with the sign Isla del Coco, a statue of an astronaut with peeling paint, mechanical parts scattered among the debris, a vehicle with broken windows, and overgrown vegetation where attractions used to operate.
The citizen reaction on social media mixes indignation, nostalgia, and despair. "Cuba is Chernobyl without the radioactive explosion," wrote one user. Another compared it to Pripyat, the Ukrainian city abandoned after the nuclear disaster of 1986.
"Decadence at its peak, and we would all cry if a video of our own souls could capture the deterioration and despair; it’s all very sad," reflected another person in the comments.
Someone who recently passed by the place described it this way: "What I saw left me with an even greater void than the one I already had. Imagine that Cuba is already destroyed. But leaving our children without smiles... That’s really tough and it hurts."
Another voice rejected any official justification: "That's not the fault of the blockade. That's the fault of self-blockage, self-destruction, lack of empathy, negligence, and ambition."
A Cuban who knew the park in its heyday was more straightforward: "I knew it when it was the real Coney Island, with its roller coaster; there were many rides for both children and adults, it was very beautiful. It still had its charm in 1974 when they dismantled it and replaced it with Isla del Coco. I knew it wouldn't last long."
The park has a history of over a century. It was inaugurated on December 5, 1918, as Coney Island Park, inspired by the famous park in Brooklyn, New York, and for decades it was one of the main entertainment centers in Latin America.
After the 1959 revolution, the government of dictator Fidel Castro (1926-2016) nationalized and dismantled it in the late 1960s. Its attractions were moved to Lenin Park, which was inaugurated in 1974.
In 2004, the Cuban government signed an agreement with China to reactivate the space, and in 2008 it was reopened as Isla del Coco with 20 devices manufactured in China. In 2017, it underwent major repairs, and by 2019 it operated with nighttime hours until 10:00 PM.
Despite a poster promising a "recovery project" for 2025, no actual rehabilitation work was carried out, and by July 2025, the deterioration was already evident.
The case is not isolated. The Río Cristal Complex, reopened in 2017 with an investment of 6.8 million pesos, is today mired in neglect.
The Libertad School City has abandoned pools and destroyed benches, while the Lincoln Hotel was reopened less than two years ago and is already closed and without windows.
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