Social Media Contest Highlights Cuba's Trash Crisis

An unusual social media contest has captured the attention of Cubans by exposing the alarming accumulation of trash in various neighborhoods across the island. The event, dubbed "Show Your Block," was spontaneously organized by a Facebook user identified as Edmundo Dantés Junior, who urged citizens to post photos of the garbage heaps that have become a regular part of their communities' landscapes.

The images shared by Cuban netizens reveal the harsh reality in areas throughout the country. From Cayo Hueso in Havana to Guantánamo, residents have uploaded pictures of mounds of waste obstructing sidewalks, invading streets, and creating unsanitary conditions for those living in these zones.

Photos from Cienfuegos, Holguín, and neighborhoods like Marianao showcased the buildup of trash on corners and sidewalks. For instance, Mabel Martell posted a "small sample" from Reina, Cienfuegos, while others highlighted debris mixed with waste at the corner of Cocos and San Indalecio in Havana.

Among the most striking images are those of garbage dumps at the corner of Parque Fábrica in Luyanó and the vicinity of Condesa and Campanario streets in Los Sitios, where solid waste combines with rubble from deteriorating buildings.

Participants in the contest not only showcased the unsanitary conditions of their surroundings but also added ironic comments to denounce governmental inaction. Examples include Waldo Martínez's post from Los Sitios, which depicted a street overflowing with trash next to crumbling buildings, and Ariel Castillo's ironic remark about a "permanent pit" on his corner in Marianao.

The contest, which serves more as a form of protest than a game, invites users to tag the location where the photos were taken. As an incentive, the photo with the most interactions is awarded the title of "Winning Trash Block," an ironic accolade that underscores citizens' desperation over governmental inaction.

This peculiar contest reflects not only the Cuban ingenuity in facing adversity but also the severe sanitary situation impacting multiple communities. Participants hope that the visibility on social media will pressure authorities to take urgent measures to resolve this entrenched problem, which, far from being a mere inconvenience, endangers public health and quality of life on the island.

The Frustration of the Population and the "Incendiary Solution"

The severe crisis in garbage collection in Cuba, particularly in its capital, has been highlighted in videos and images circulating on social media in recent months.

In mid-August, desperation over ineffective garbage collection in Santiago de Cuba reached a critical point, leading citizens to start setting fire to the waste accumulating in the streets.

According to reports shared by independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada, Santiago residents decided to burn the garbage piles in their neighborhoods as a form of protest. Days earlier, a garbage dump located in the middle of a street in the Mantilla neighborhood of Havana caught fire, causing inconvenience to local residents.

In January, residents of the Lawton neighborhood in the Diez de Octubre municipality of Havana decided to set fire to the accumulated trash in a massive dump at the corners of San Anastasio and Carmen streets.

The report "Havana, Capital of Waste," prepared by the Observatorio Cubano de Auditoría Ciudadana (OCAC) and advised by the think tank Cuba Siglo 21, revealed that the Cuban regime fails to collect the equivalent of three Olympic-sized swimming pools of garbage in Havana every day. The study asserts that the island's capital has become a "critical focal point for sanitary insecurity" because street-level dumps foster the proliferation of rats and mosquitoes, dengue, and leptospirosis, and cause urban fires due to methane gas production.