From several provinces, Cubans demand a mobilization like the one in Havana
14ymedio, Holguín, October 6, 2025 — The “offensive” that took place this weekend with the garbage collection in Havana is having an undesirable effect for the authorities. From several provinces, residents are calling for a similar mobilization in their territories to remove the mountains of waste from the streets. In the city of Holguín, with more than a troop of military conscripts and militants from the Union of Young Communists, people are demanding a long-term strategy to end the problem of waste accumulation.
Next to the bakery in the neighborhood of Pueblo Nuevo and very close to the high school and Alberto Sosa González pre-university, waste has been accumulating for weeks before the worried look of the neighbors and the feast of the black vultures. A few meters away from a children’s childcare center, the garbage dump barely lets you walk down the street, and its stench forces you to speed up when walking nearby. “Tell Díaz-Canel to send the Special Forces battalion!” yelled a grumpy bread seller who tried to pass with his bike, loaded with merchandise, through the narrow space between the rubbish and the sidewalk.
“Here they suffocated most of the private people who had horse carts and provided the garbage collection services.”
The images of the volunteer work carried out this Saturday in the Cuban capital with foreign ministry staff, soldiers, neighborhood organizations and even high officials dressed in their impeccable clothes have been like salt in a wound for the residents, who complain about the constant neglect of their province and the lack of resources to keep Community Services running. “Here they suffocated most of the private people who had horse carts and provided the garbage collection services. They raised the cost of all supplies and they took off,” says a neighbor from Pueblo Nuevo.
For the woman, the current situation needs more than a “momentary burst.” She demands that, although “this is not Havana, send the military to collect the garbage.” In the brief few minutes when the neighbor approaches the dump to check its extent, the mountain of waste grows a little more. A nearby private business dumps several empty boxes that once contained frozen chicken; a young man throws away the debris from a demolition, and another passer-by throws some freshly pruned branches out of a garden. The spectacle, now increased, greets the teenagers leaving the nearby school when the bell rings, putting an end to the morning.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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