In the early hours of Friday morning, a Cuban mother, her daughter, and four young grandchildren were forcibly removed from a residence they had occupied in Old Havana. The property had been uninhabited for eight years. According to reports, Yamila García and her daughter Yanelis Goza, along with the four minors, faced a night filled with threats, aggression, and an attempted forcible eviction.
Family activist Adrián Rubio, a relative of García and Goza, shared on social media that the eviction started around 2:00 a.m. and concluded in the morning when authorities forced the women and children onto the street. Both Yamila and Yanelis were subsequently detained by the police.
The family holds the Cuban regime accountable for any repercussions resulting from this incident, highlighting that one of the children, a four-year-old girl with heart issues, had to endure the police's violence throughout the night.
This eviction adds to the growing number of cases in Cuba where families living in abandoned properties are evicted, often without notice or alternative housing options. Amid the island's housing crisis, the issue of people occupying vacant homes is also a concern for Cubans who travel abroad and leave their properties unattended.
Last September, Cuban TikToker Dairon Cano sought help from his followers for a Miami mother with two young children, who was facing imminent homelessness. In an emotional interview, the woman explained that her family lived in a rental, but the landlord wanted to evict them.
That same week, a story emerged about a young man who had been sleeping in a park but found employment after Dairon broadcasted his story on social media.