A video lasting just 12 seconds, posted on Friday on the Facebook profile of user Liena López Delgado, shows a massive accumulation of waste on Calle 25, almost at the corner of Avenida de los Presidentes (Calle G), in the central Havana neighborhood of Vedado.
The recording shows plastic bags, cardboard boxes, cans, bottles, organic waste, and debris scattered over nearly a block, alongside several buildings in one of the most emblematic neighborhoods of the Cuban capital.
One comment accurately locates the scene: "And in front of the restaurant," which places the makeshift dump in an area where food is sold.
The outrage in the comments section was immediate and unanimous. "What a tremendous lack of hygiene, Havana, Cuba, is already a total dump," wrote one user.
Another described the place as a "hotel of bugs, pests, viruses, and diseases." A third person raised the question that sums up the collective frustration: "If Vedado is like this, how must the rest be?"
There were also those who pointed to the economic impact: "It's no wonder tourists aren't coming." And someone who pondered without an answer: "I wonder if this will be forever. How dreadful!"
El Vedado has a long history of similar complaints. In mid-September, Spanish propagandist Ana Hurtado expressed her "surprise" at the condition of the neighborhood.
"Why are there municipalities in Havana that look clean while Vedado, with hospitals and being the city center, is full of piles of garbage? It’s incomprehensible," wrote Hurtado.
In July, a fire consumed part of the garbage accumulated at the corner of 15 and K, just meters from the national headquarters of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution and a building of the Ministry of the Interior.
Official data from February indicated that only 44 of the 106 garbage trucks in Havana were operational (41% of the fleet), immobilized by a shortage of diesel and mechanical breakdowns, in a city of over 1.8 million inhabitants that generates between 24,000 and 30,000 cubic meters of solid waste per day.
The pilot project El Rampeño, which planned to deploy 30 electric tricycles for door-to-door waste collection in the Rampa Popular Council, finally launched with only five tricycles and ended up being a recognized failure by its own officials.
Recent videos shared on social media show makeshift dumps in various locations in Havana, with waste piling up in the streets and sewage waters, as residents report unbearable odors and a situation that continues to worsen.
At the beginning of September, the official press presented 20 trucks and more than 240 containers from China, with an investment exceeding one million euros. However, the capital authorities themselves acknowledged that these resources "are not the definitive solution."
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