The newborn was found inside a box, on Martí Street, between Máximo Gómez and Béquer.
14ymedio, Havana, March 15, 2026 – Residents of the Havana municipality of Guanabacoa found the body of a newborn baby in a garbage dump on Friday. According to residents of the area who spoke with 14ymedio, the baby was found inside a box on Martí Street, between Máximo Gómez and Béquer, by municipal sanitation workers who were collecting waste at the site.
The discovery occurred during the early hours of the morning, when workers were checking the garbage accumulated at the collection point. Witnesses say the baby still had the placenta when it was discovered, indicating that it had been born shortly before being abandoned.
“It was something very hard to see. Nobody expects to find a baby in the garbage,” said Yaneisy, a resident of the neighborhood who witnessed the aftermath of the discovery.
“It was something very hard to see. Nobody expects to find a baby in the garbage,” said Yaneisy, a resident of the neighborhood who witnessed the moment after the discovery. According to her testimony, several people began calling the authorities and medical services to come to the site. Some neighbors commented that the newborn may have been between eight and nine months gestation and weighed around seven pounds, although these details have not been officially confirmed.
So far, no details have been released about the identity of the mother or the circumstances under which the baby was abandoned. No public information has been provided about the condition of the baby or about the progress of a possible investigation related to the case.
Similar cases have been reported in recent years in different parts of Havana, such as the case of a baby girl found in June 2025, still with the umbilical cord, in the municipality of Cerro.
Cuba was one of the first countries in Latin America to legalize abortion. However, today many of these procedures are carried out without anesthesia due to a lack of supplies and the precarious conditions of the healthcare system. This is compounded by the well-known shortage of condoms and contraceptive pills.
According to a report from the National Office of Statistics and Information published in May 2024, the capital recorded 27,864 deaths, almost triple the 10,783 births counted during the same period.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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