The Cuban writer and art critic Jorge de Mello shared on social media a scene he observed from the window of his apartment that led him to reflect on the situation of homeless people in his neighborhood.
"My neighborhood, at the end of El Vedado, has also been turning into one of those places where more and more frequently homeless and unsupported people wander around, poor folks who have been abandoned by society," De Mello wrote this Thursday on his Facebook profile.
The man, older and extremely thin, dragged a heavy bundle as he stopped in front of a puddle of black water. According to the writer, the sewage water "has been draining for months from the flowerbed and spilling its filth into the street without anyone caring much."
The scene took on a new meaning when the man tucked his shirt into his frayed shorts, rummaged through his belongings, and pulled out a piece of dark blue fabric. With it, he fashioned a kind of tie that he tied around his neck over the jacket. Then, he stretched his arms, swayed his body, and resumed walking with his head held high.
The gesture moved the author, who acknowledged his helplessness in the face of a reality he cannot accept with indifference. "I cannot integrate them naturally into my daily life nor turn my gaze away with indifference; I also cannot do anything effective for them beyond recording the injustice of these brutal times that no country should have to endure," he stated.
The responses to the post revealed that other residents identify this situation as part of a broader decline. One reader stated that it has become common to see homeless individuals in various cities and recounted having found some washing their clothes in puddles of water. "Our fellow citizens tell the true story of what is happening to us," she wrote.
Another person, who claimed to have lived her entire life in El Vedado, summarized her perception of the neighborhood's decline with a blunt phrase: "All that El Vedado has left is its name."
A commentator compared the current situation to the promise of eliminating "hunger, misery, and desolation" after 1959. "Sixty-seven years after 1959, what has occurred is regression; everything is worse," he wrote.
The criticisms also pointed to the institutional response to social and urban decay. "I never thought we would reach this level of misery, but especially of indifference, lack of will, and incompetence on the part of the authorities to prevent this growing horror," noted another user.
A reader of the publication accurately summarized what many feel in response to these scenes: "You document, and it's no small feat, in the most honest and sensitive way, the human costs of a prolonged crisis that those in power refuse to acknowledge, let alone solve."
De Mello's chronicle brings together in one scene the loss of protection for a man and a health issue that, according to his account, has been unresolved for months. In a neighborhood historically associated with residential areas of Havana, the image exposes a reality that the comments describe as increasingly difficult to ignore.
The sewer system of Havana, built between 1908 and 1914 for a city of around 600,000 inhabitants, must now serve more than 1.8 million people and has suffered from decades of inadequate maintenance.
Additionally, there is the worsening problem of garbage accumulation on numerous streets and avenues. In September, a significant accumulation of waste was documented in the heart of Vedado, on 25th Street, near the corner with Avenida de los Presidentes, extending for about a block.
Indigence is also not a new phenomenon in the neighborhood. In early 2025, an elderly man was reported to have been sleeping in a doorway for months on Línea and 14, in El Vedado.
The picture described by De Mello aligns with the latest data on poverty in Cuba. After conducting 1,318 interviews between June 27 and July 29 across 79 municipalities, the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH) found and published in August that 94% of the surveyed population lived in extreme poverty.
One of the most concerning statistics affects the elderly, as people over 70 years old make up 44% of those living on the streets, according to data collected by the OCDH.
Days ago, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero acknowledged the existence of 883,000 people in vulnerable situations and announced a monthly food assistance of five pounds of rice, one of sugar, and one of grains for this population.
Furthermore, a listener from Santiago de Cuba told the ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel on the radio program Criterio Compartido: "We see vulnerable people on the streets, in the trash, asking for alms, money, and food."
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