A stench spreads through the streets of Havana.
It is not only around the Saratoga hotel, destroyed by Friday’s explosion, whose rubble still covers more than a dozen bodies.
A few blocks away, in Centro Habana, the corners become makeshift garbage dumps, filling the environment with an odor that permeates clothing and skin.
One of them is around the corner from the Hermanos Ameijeiras hospital, where a construction container, overflowing with material, is now used to throw bags and bags of garbage into it, some of them full of rotten food.
There are no flowers or cleaning that honor the memory of the Community Services worker who died there that day as a result of the collapse, but a mountain of garbage that nobody seems to care about
But perhaps the most impressive is the one located on the corner of San Miguel and Belascoaín, an abandoned corner since the building partially collapsed on July 18, 2020.
There are no flowers or cleaning to honor the memory of the Community Services worker who died there that day as a result of the collapse, but rather a mountain of garbage that no one seems to care about for decades.
The building, one of the tallest in that area, is still in oblivion, as it has been for the last forty years. Already in the 1980s, passers-by avoided passing near it, with several collapsed balconies and its broken façade with cracks, and walked down the sidewalk on that stretch of street.
Now, the danger of a new collapse is joined by the unbearable effluvia of waste.
________________________
Collaborate with our work:
The team of 14ymedio is committed to doing serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time becoming a member of our journal. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
