Cuba Between Liquefied Gas and Garbage: A Daily Crisis
Photo Feature by Idania Cardenas
HAVANA TIMES – On the streets of Cuba, a double drama affects the daily lives of its citizens. The liquefied gas crisis, essential for cooking food, has been compounded by the issue of waste collection, creating a troubling scenario of precariousness that has been visible for months, not only in the outskirts of Havana but also on the city’s main avenues.
The long lines to obtain a small, liquefied gas cylinder have become a common sight. Families, accustomed to cooking with this fuel —since they cannot cook with electricity due to prolonged power outages— face increasingly severe restrictions to obtain it. Many are forced to resort to alternative and dangerous methods like using firewood or charcoal, which also has worrying environmental consequences.
Adding to this problem is the deterioration of waste management in cities. The accumulation of garbage on the streets has intensified in almost every municipality in the country, becoming a breeding ground for diseases and a constant source of discomfort. Overflowing trash containers, garbage bags thrown on street corners, and makeshift dumps have become part of the urban landscape. Authorities blame the lack of fuel for the garbage trucks, but citizens experience the direct consequences: foul odors, the proliferation of insects and rodents, and the looming risk of epidemics.
The photos in this report were taken while I was in the gas line myself. I tried to capture the daily reality of a people who endure but are caught in a constant struggle with seemingly insurmountable problems.
The weary looks of those who wait for hours to get gas because they can’t afford the 2,500 pesos fee to cut the line, nearly double the monthly pension of many retirees, highlight a desperate situation. On top of this need, there are those who exploit the most vulnerable, making deals with sellers to gain an advantage and make easy money.
Meanwhile, children play in streets surrounded by garbage, and shopkeepers attempt to keep their businesses afloat amidst an uncertain context.
This is the Cuba that is rarely shown: a resilient nation but burdened by daily crises.
This visual portrait is a testimony to the hardships faced by the Cuban population, but also to their ability to adapt and survive. Hidden between the garbage and the liquefied gas lies a story of silent resistance, a reflection of the social and economic complexity the island is enduring in these difficult times.
The government has lost its management skills. Communism has failed the people they need democracy and follow a new path such as China in the interim
So sad that we send money for bullets and guns but won’t help here. So many Canadians travel to Cuba.
Burn the garbage
People in Canada want economic reform and the protestors left out of prison and allowed to leave Cuba before more aid skim milk powder or canola is given to them in return for farm land leases
Unbelievable that is what comunist is i left in 1969 and it wasn’t the bad so sorry no 1 what to live like that
It’s hard to understand while airlines and vacation packages are not stopped.
There is no food or water for locals but you’re going to feed tourists. Get reorganized, clean the effects of the power outages get the garbage and rodents under control before bringing more and more tourists. It’s not business as usual. Stop saying everything is as it was. It’s not!
I was in Cuba last year. Loved the People.loved the land. Very oppressed society.
I feel that the revolution was necessary but unfortunately didn’t work.
I would love to be of help to the People.
It might help to bring God back.
Fue una Isla de modelaje para el mundo entero, a hora es una isla que da vergüenza al mundo entero. Que Gobierno más maquiavélico, solo un demonio puede hacer lo que está haciendo ese Gobierno.
It was an island that was a model for the whole world, now it is an island that is a shame for the whole world. What a Machiavellian government, only a demon could do what this government is doing.
They don’t have any choice other than to adapt to that garbage.
Desde el exilio solo puedo esperar que mi esla despierte de esa pesadilla en la que vivimos aunque aunque ya hace mucho que nos fuimos…
Very very sad to note the crisis plagued for Cubans.Love the people love the country .US should remove sanctions to Cuba rest of the world must not just sit & watch this deterioration.
Why isn’t Canada sending aid?
People have to go out in thousands or more and protest
For freedom food better salaries fight fight Pueblo .
Ahhhh the communist paradise!!!
Wow what Fidel Castro has done to this country. When It was under America people were happy. Still preserving American cars from 50s and 60s shows so much they love America … Unbelievable!!!
In Santiago it is a problem in getting propane, many resort to buying propane in the black market at inflated prices
Garbage collection is still happening I just wish they would have scheduled times for collection which would make life easier Streets are still being cleaned daily
What a life!!!
As I have mentioned in recent prior comments, during my last visit to Havana, the huge increase in the garbage left on the streets was literally breathtaking. Since my first visit to Cuba 17 years ago, I have always noticed that quite a few Cubans in Havana have a bad habit of littering. It’s a common sight to see Cubans drinking a can of soda as they walk down the street and toss the empty can into the street. Likewise, cigarette butts are tossed to ground without a thought. Now, with truly mounting piles of garbage on most street corners, more Cubans are even more shameless in their habit of throwing refuse of all kinds into the streets. As the garbage piles up, it gets increasingly worse every day. I was shocked at what I saw. In my childhood once, the garbage workers union went on strike in my city. For two months, the garbage trucks that picked up the garbage refused to leave the station. The citizens got together with the City dumps and organized neighborhood clean up days. Dump fees were waived and while it didn’t eliminate the need for the garbage workers, the people themselves made a difference. Why don’t Cubans help themselves in the same way?