Rather than cleaning the corner of Factor and Conill, Cuban authorities prefer to prevent anyone from taking pictures of it.
14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Generation Y, Havana, April8,2026 — Employees of the state-run warehouse on Factor y Conill Street in Nuevo Vedado have been orientado [instructed] to cover the fence around the corner with sacks. The order aims to prevent neighbors from taking photographs of the immense mountain of garbage that grows there every week, with the bust of José Martí in the background and the Cuban flag in the gardens of the warehouse, products destined for the rationed market are stored, as a backdrop. However, clearly visible from the heights of my building is the triptych formed by the Apostle, the solitary star, and the garbage.
The scene has something of farce and unintentional comedy about it. While the sacks have been hung with diligence, as if it were a national security operation, flies continue to come and go without asking permission, and the smell of decay rises through the windows with a punctuality that public transportation could only dream of. The garbage, undisciplined and stubborn, doesn’t care about directions or makeshift curtains.
Sackcloths hiding the statue of Martí at the corner of Factor and Conill streets in Nuevo Vedado. / 14ymedio
One would think the problem is the pile of waste, but apparently not. The real enemy is the photograph. The image circulating on WhatsApp, leaking onto social media, and contradicting the official narrative seems to be the biggest concern for officials and bureaucrats.
From the balconies of our building, the view is complete: the sculpture of a head, reached by a path of stones that no one uses, the blue stripes with their red triangle and, a few meters away, a string of torn bags, damp cardboard, and plastic scraps spilling onto the sidewalk. An unintentional monument to neglect. An altar where patriotism coexists with abandonment.
Appearances are so important to this regime that it is willing to spend time, energy, and resources covering up an image and obscuring a shot, rather than using those same resources to clean the city and prevent the diseases that spread from these open-air dumps. In the end, it is not about eliminating the garbage, but about hiding it. Like so many other things in this country.
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