Residents of the Mulgoba neighborhood in the Boyeros municipality, south of Havana, have been without access to drinking water for 45 days, while no local government official has provided explanations or solutions.
The report was published this Monday on Facebook by Alexis Torriente, a resident of the neighborhood, who describes a situation of complete collapse and urges the community to organize on their own.
"45 days without water and no one is speaking up, no one is coming forward to address us from the municipal government," Torriente wrote in his post, where he also listed other shortages that are suffocating the community: prolonged blackouts, food scarcity, and rampant inflation.
In light of the government's inaction, the neighbor proposes a self-managed solution: "Let's collect money among ourselves to buy two submersible pumps, and the ineffective fake government can go to hell."
The root of the problem in Mulgoba dates back to mid-year when the supply source "Lola," which provides water to the neighborhood and other areas of Boyeros, was shut down due to a lack of electricity. Havana's water supply system relies on electricity for about 87-88% of its pumping, which makes every blackout a direct cut in the supply.
Boyeros has been one of the municipalities in the capital most affected by this crisis. Over 40,000 people from the municipality have experienced severe disruptions in supply since January of this year.
In August, a breakdown in the main pipeline of Cuenca Sur left six municipalities in Havana without water, including parts of Boyeros. In October, an electrical failure in 110-kilovolt lines once again halted pumping in areas such as La Fortuna, Capdevila, Mazorra, and Alta Habana.
It is not the first time Torriente has raised his voice. In August, he directly confronted Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz on social media without receiving an official response. Similarly, he reported a possible water contamination in Boyeros: poorly maintained cisterns, a broken chlorinator, and cases of diarrhea and hepatitis among the neighbors.
Desperation in Boyeros has led to repeated protests. In Fontanar, the regime suppressed a protest using pots and pans in September, involving nearly 10 patrols and at least two arrests. At the end of October, residents blocked Boyeros Avenue with garbage bins after more than three days without electricity.
The magnitude of the problem extends beyond this municipality in the southern part of the Cuban capital. The regime itself admitted that 2.7 million Cubans have total or partial issues with access to drinking water, a figure that represents nearly 35% of the population served by networks. Just in September, over 577,000 people in Havana faced difficulties with water supply.
Faced with the institutional void, Cubans are increasingly seeking private solutions: private tank trucks, personal wells, and neighborhood collections to acquire pumping equipment. Torriente sums it up bluntly: "If you cannot do anything for the people, the people must and will organize themselves for their own survival."
"We are being killed. Mulgoba neighborhood: without electricity, without water, without food, inflation at 1000%, without rights, without government support we will soon reach extinction," concluded the neighbor in his post.
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