A spill of sewage transformed Luis Estévez Street, in the Santos Suárez neighborhood of the capital's Diez de Octubre municipality, into an open sewer canal, according to a video shared on social media on Saturday.
The author of the recording, activist Adelth Bonne Gamboa, walked around the block and showed how the sewage completely covers the roadway. "There isn't even a street, there’s a river," he remarked ironically while describing the scene.
Neighbors identified the outlet between Cortina and Figueroa streets, extending towards D'Strampes, and pointed out that the problem is not recent.
A resident stated that he has been living in those conditions for years and asserted that, at 32 years old, he has always seen that block the same way.
Another user stated that the overflow has been in the same spot for over a year and questioned whether authorities expect it to eventually connect with the Almendares River.
The situation also affects other nearby streets. A neighbor pointed out that on Cortina, between Milagros and Libertad, crossing has become so difficult that a board needs to be placed to get across.
The comments also reflected concern about the health consequences of constant exposure to wastewater. "Of course, that's why there's diarrhea, vomiting, and any virus," wrote a user.
The complaint once again highlights a problem that had already been documented at the same location. In August, the writer Rodolfo Alpízar Castillo published images of a sewage leak at the corner of Figueroa and Luis Estévez, where dirty water covered the street and a manhole remained uncovered.
The new recording shows that, weeks after that report, the wastewater continues to occupy the roadway in this residential area of Havana.
Santos Suárez, which previous generations referred to as "the second Vedado" because of its republican architecture and residential character, is accumulating complaint after complaint.
The neighborhood has been the scene of pot banging and protests, driven by blackouts lasting up to 22 hours and a shortage of water.
The sewer system of Havana dates back to between 1908 and 1914, designed for a city of 600,000 inhabitants, and today it must serve 1.8 million without having received adequate maintenance for decades. The network comprises approximately 1,755 kilometers of outdated pipes.
Cuba closed 2025 with at least 81,909 cases of dengue and chikungunya and 65 deaths, an outbreak directly linked to the accumulation of waste and stagnant water.
So far this year, dengue cases have exceeded 7.4 times the expected level, with 7,133 cases reported across 134 municipalities in the 14 provinces, according to updated data from the Global Dengue Observatory (GDO) at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine published in September.
Shortly after, the Ministry of Public Health acknowledged an increase in diarrhea, hepatitis, and arboviruses related to the water and sanitation crisis.
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