A man rummages through mountains of waste while displaying on his cart a phrase that captures the contradictions of present-day Cuba
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, November 12, 2026 / The man bends over a mountain of garbage and rummages among food scraps, plastic containers, damp cardboard and torn bags. The scene could be mistaken for so many others that are repeated every day in Havana, where the buzos [literally “divers,” Cuban slang for people who scavenge through garbage] have become part of the landscape. But this time, amid so much misery, there appears a phrase capable of stopping even the most hurried passerby.
“If you want to be like me, work,” reads the black lettering on the red board of a four-wheeled cart. The message has something of fatherly advice, of street defiance and of a slap in the face to a society where work long ago stopped guaranteeing a decent life.
The message has something of fatherly advice, of street defiance and of a slap in the face to a society where work long ago stopped guaranteeing a decent life
Its author does not wear a tie, does not occupy an air-conditioned office, nor does he appear on television explaining the virtues of collective effort. He works among waste, separating out whatever can still be put to use. His office is a garbage dump and his means of transport, a cart cobbled together from pieces of wood, scraps of iron and wheels of various origins.
The phrase lends itself to several readings. It may be a declaration of pride from someone who earns a living without asking anyone’s permission. Or else a jibe aimed at those who expect to receive something without making any effort at all. Or perhaps a warning: to end up like him, all it takes is to work hard in a country where wages evaporate before the first week of the month is over.
The sign does not seem to have been written from a place of defeat. It has the insolence of someone who still keeps his dignity and refuses to be looked at only with pity
Nevertheless, the sign does not seem to have been written from a place of defeat. It has the insolence of someone who still keeps his dignity and refuses to be looked at only with pity. While others give speeches about the culture of work, this Havana man bends down, sorts, loads and pushes.
In the Cuba of unfulfilled plans and recycled slogans, few phrases are as uncomfortable as his. Because this man with the cart works – boy, does he work. The saddest thing is that he has to search in the garbage for what the economy will not let him find outside of it.
Translated by GH.
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