The Cuban capital faces a critical situation: the accumulation of garbage on streets and sidewalks has become part of the everyday landscape. In neighborhoods like Centro Habana, waste remains for days, generating bad odors, pests, and infection hotspots.
Residents denounce state neglect, though many fear reprisals for complaining publicly.
Official campaigns without results
Three months ago, the government launched a campaign to “clean up” the city, promising a turning point in waste collection. However, the situation has worsened.
Prime Minister Manuel Marrero acknowledged that the results are not visible, while the population perceives the garbage as a reflection of the general deterioration of the country, marked by the fall of GDP, food shortages, blackouts, and unprecedented mass migration.
Fuel shortage and system collapse
Authorities attribute the collapse to the lack of trucks and fuel, a crisis that deepened after the cut in oil supply from Venezuela. According to the Financial Times, by the end of January, Cuba had only 15 to 20 days of oil reserves, after receiving a single shipment from Mexico of 84,900 barrels, well below the 37,000 barrels per day it averaged in 2025.
The lack of resources has led the state to resort to prisoners with minor sentences to collect garbage without proper equipment, highlighting the system’s precariousness.
Health emergency
The problem transcends aesthetics and has become a public health emergency. Improvised dumps serve as breeding grounds for mosquitoes transmitting dengue and chikungunya.
- In 2025, Cuba acknowledged an epidemic of these diseases, although it stopped publishing official figures.
- The Pan American Health Organization reported more than 81,000 infections and at least 65 deaths, more than half in minors.
- The proliferation of mosquitoes and rats increases the risk of diseases like dengue and Zika.
Structural factors of the crisis
The problem is characterized by:
- Resource scarcity: lack of fuel and garbage trucks, turning corners into permanent dumps.
- Infrastructure collapse: insufficient, damaged, or stolen containers reduce storage capacity.
- Health impact: open-air waste generates toxic leachates and strong odors, affecting quality of life.
- Official narrative: the government attributes the problem to “social indiscipline” and imposes fines for poor waste disposal, without fully acknowledging the structural crisis.
A crisis reflecting national deterioration
The accumulation of garbage in Havana is just a visible expression of the deep economic and social crisis Cuba is going through. The lack of fuel, fiscal deterioration, and economic decline have collapsed basic services, worsening the health emergency and increasing the population’s vulnerability.
The waste crisis in Havana shows how economic and energy fragility directly impacts public health.
The accumulated garbage in Cuba not only degrades the urban environment but also becomes a focus of diseases that threatens thousands of people. The emergency demands urgent management measures and international cooperation to prevent the situation from becoming a larger-scale health catastrophe.
