Residents of Pueblo Nuevo in the city of Matanzas reported that authorities are repairing the Tirry road ahead of a "high-level" ministerial visit, while other streets in the neighborhood remain neglected and filled with accumulated trash.
The complaint was published this Saturday on Facebook by AfroAtenas.Callejón de las Tradiciones, a sociocultural and community project that brings together residents and activists from the area. Its members questioned the disparity between the maintenance, painting, and beautification work done on the route chosen for the visit and the conditions that the rest of the community endures on a daily basis.
Neighbors described what happened as a "disparity between the cosmetic actions taken by the authorities and the reality of neglect that we face." They also warned that the neighborhood is home to children, elderly individuals, and people in vulnerable situations, in an environment they consider to be of high epidemiological risk.
In light of this situation, they demanded that official visits include tours of the most deteriorated areas and not be limited to the streets prepared to receive officials.
The publication was also marked by irony regarding the arrival of the leaders. "It’s an ironic way to maintain existence, but to say: Lazo is coming to resolve the chaos and unsanitary conditions we are subjected to, well, WELCOME," wrote the residents.
The message refers to Esteban Lazo Hernández, president of the National Assembly of People's Power and the Council of State.
In the comments, the project itself insisted that residents survive thanks to their daily efforts against deterioration and called for an end to what it termed a mockery. Another user pointed out that the door-to-door service stopped functioning a long time ago and attributed the central issue to deficiencies in waste collection.
The episode recalls what happened at the end of October in Bejucal, Mayabeque, where the religious sister Sor Nadieska Almeida reported street repairs, overgrowth cleaning, and facade painting prior to a visit from the ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel on October 22. She then questioned how authorities could ensure electricity, cleanliness, and beautification for a few hours, but not maintain those services on a permanent basis.
In Matanzas, the deterioration of sanitation has structural causes associated with a shortage of garbage trucks, a fuel deficit, and a deflated workforce, due to salaries and working conditions.
The consequences have become visible in various parts of the city. In October, a dump at the corner of Embarcadero, Blanco, and Mujica extended over more than 100 meters and blocked vehicular traffic. Days later, another resident reported that the accumulated garbage in front of her home prevented her from leaving to go to work.
Since April, authorities have issued alerts regarding outbreaks of hepatitis A in the municipalities of Matanzas, Cárdenas, and Versalles. In June, seven confirmed cases and 49 suspected cases were reported in just one week. Additionally, approximately 265,000 residents of the province lack a stable supply of drinking water.
The gravity of the situation was acknowledged in May by the official newspaper Girón, the organ of the Communist Party in the province, when it warned that not only the image of Matanzas was at stake, but also the health and future of its inhabitants.
For his part, the municipal mayor, Michel León Rodríguez, acknowledged before the cameras of the telecenter TV Yumurí that the authorities had "a debt with the city".
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