Employees at a state warehouse in Havana's Nuevo Vedado have covered a fence with sacks to stop neighbors from photographing a large garbage pile next to a bust of Jose Marti and the Cuban flag. Journalist Yoani Sanchez of 14ymedio reports the waste accumulates weekly near the facility supplying rationed market goods. The action aims to prevent images from spreading on social media and WhatsApp.
At the corner of Factor and Conill streets in Havana's Nuevo Vedado, employees at the state warehouse have hung sacks over the perimeter fence. According to Yoani Sanchez in 14ymedio, the order targets a massive garbage pile that grows weekly there, visible alongside a bust of the Apostle Jose Marti and the Cuban flag in the gardens of the rationed market goods depot.
From upper floors of a nearby building, the view remains clear: Marti's head sculpture reached by an unused stone path, the flag's blue stripes and red triangle, and just meters away, torn bags, soggy cardboard, and plastic spilling onto the sidewalk.
Sanchez notes flies buzzing freely and a decaying smell rising to windows. Officials appear more focused on blocking photos that could spread via WhatsApp and social media, potentially contradicting the official narrative, than on cleaning the site.
The piece, first published in Spanish by 14ymedio and translated by Havana Times on April 8, 2026, underscores prioritizing image concealment over addressing the waste issue.
