The smell of garbage is overwhelming and intense under the Caribbean sun. The accumulated waste is like traffic blocking the entire streets of Havana, far from the tourist area.
But the garbage collectors here are not on strike. They simply don’t come often enough. This is another example of Cuba’s decline over the past year, alongside power losses and water cuts. It is the result of the economic and energy crisis struck the island, and authorities are no longer trying to deny it.
According to the government, Cuba’s economy fell 1.1% in 2024. The government has spoken about the “war economy” that has been at a disadvantage since the end of 2023. Meanwhile, the UN Latin America and the Caribbean Economic Committee (ECLAC) is set to sign an additional 1.5% contract this year. And while inflation is slowing, official figures say it’s past double digits.
“We are in a recession and are in a very complicated situation. In countries where power outages lasting up to 20 hours in some regions are not working, Everleny Pérez Villanueva, an economist and researcher and former director of the Cuban Economic Research Center at the University of Havana, told CNN, explaining the situation of waste collection in the capital.
“I go out with my car and there are no traffic lights in town. There are complex highway areas,” he added.
Union Ereclica de Cuba, part of the Ministry of Energy and Mines, reports daily about demand and energy deficits on its social media pages. Simultaneous power outages are already commonplace to cover more than 40% of the country, forcing people to change their daily lives.
“They influence everyone. It’s difficult to maintain connection. I always need to connect, otherwise I’ll lose my clients,” said Lazaro Hernandez, a 38-year-old photographer who works with tourists in Havana. “We have a program that tells you when it’s time to stop, and use it as a guide to know when it’s going to happen and organize it.”
“You try to show off the most beautiful side. The goal of being able to tourism is to fall in love with Cuba despite the difficulties,” Jorge Perez, a tour guide who has worked in the industry since 2018, told CNN. “When we travel to the state, it’s a little more difficult. Trinidad is heavily affected by the blackouts. But many clients see it as an experience. For Cubans, it’s a bitter experience – we’re struggling with all of that.”
For years, energy systems have suffered from lack of maintenance and investment. Things got worse last year during hurricane season, leading to some general collapse at the end of 2024, sparking several street protests.
This week, a group of residents blocked Havana’s town for hours, protesting a lack of drinking water.
Antonio Rodriguez, president of the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources, said in July that around 10% of the population, or about 10%, are affected by the water supply problem every day.
“We cannot pump water due to the energy deficit,” he explained before a parliamentary committee.
Cuban economist Mauricio de Miranda Parondo and Professor Javerana, the University of Pontificia in Colombia, said the island is experiencing stag situations.
“Cuba is facing serious problems with a lack of supply as it has a productive sector collapse,” DeMiranda said. “This means that the country must import goods to meet basic needs, not only food and fuel, but also the goods produced.”
Reuters estimates that a decline in oil supply from Venezuela, which sent an average of 96,000 barrels in 2011, is a decrease in oil supply from Venezuela.
Power outages also affect the Internet. The Internet has been relatively recent widespread access in Cuba, contributing to the scale of dissatisfaction and organisation of several protests. A group of students at the University of Havana requested that the price rise of the data navigation package be reversed in June. This was granted by the government, but without abolishing the measures.
Beyond the 6GB subsidies, those who need more data will have to pay from 3,360 Cuban pesos (about $140 at the official exchange rate or about $8.50 at the informal market).
Few tourists and fewer sugar
Visitors staying at hotels generally have access to generators that are not normally available to private accommodations. In any case, the crisis will also affect services in the tourism sector, including restaurants and bars that are not open at night.
“We will make sure tourists arrive and have an energy situation. It will admit that it is not good experience and prefers other destinations,” Chino Gonzalez, a Havana guide who asked not to use his real name, told CNN. He said these are factors that determine that many travelers will not visit the country again.
Between January and July, Cuba received almost 1.58 million visitors. Only 83% of visits recorded in the same period in 2024. On their side, the hotel (where Miguel Diaz Canel’s government continues to invest millions of dollars in infrastructure) had just 24% in the first quarter, 11 percentage points less occupancy than last year. That was a “very poor,” Economic Minister Joaquin Alonso Vasquez admitted in a June report.
In addition to being a tourist symbol, Cuba has also become a world-leading sugar producer. This was one of the mainstays of the economy. However, the 2024/2025 harvest had the worst results for over a century. EFE calculations based on official sources reached 150,000 tonnes, less than half of the previous year’s total.
“Harves are a symbol, and now sugar production is no longer present. It was supposed to be an economic locomotive. There is no sugar or tourism,” economist Perez summed up.
The availability of subsidized foods has declined in recent months.
“These products have been significantly reduced. Those who can’t afford to receive a salary will be affected, such as retirees and those who earn the minimum wage. They have less rice, oil and milk,” Gonzalez said.
“There’s either a shortage of sugar, rice and beans or they won’t arrive at the same time,” said photographer Hernandez.
Recently, pensioners have begun to see a significant increase in monthly income, up from around US$65 to almost US$160. However, testimony collected by Reuters shows that the impact is not so important as few products are sold at the official rate of P24 per US dollar, but most products are traded on parallel exchanges, which are around P400.
“The minimum products that guarantee certain social equality are no longer respected,” Perez Villanueva said in turn. “In my neighborhood, they handed over chicken once a month. It’s been eight months now. The shopping cart is more affected than ever.
The early 1990s were marked by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the loss of aid Havana received from its main allies, leading to a rapid recession that forced Castroism to implement economic open-up reforms.
“We’re bad now,” Perez continues. “At least, certain things were guaranteed during that period. There was no transport, but no one million bicycles were imported from China.
De Miranda emphasized that between 1990 and 1994 there were more contracts than in recent recessions, but noted that there were reforms that gave the economy room to take a breather. “I don’t think Cuba has actually emerged from that crisis. Between 1990 and 2024, the average annual GDP fluctuated only 1.1%,” the economist said.
Historically, the Cuban government has continued to point to the impact of the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, mainly due to the US embargo and new restrictions put in place by President Donald Trump’s administration. However, authorities acknowledge the discomfort of the population.
“You don’t defend the revolution by hiding the problems we have,” said Diaz Cannell in July. A controversy broke out over the declaration by then-Law Minister Marta Elena Fight.
The president also said in a podcast in May that long-term blackouts are the biggest “distance” and will have a serious impact on the economy.
Including Cuba on the US list of US terrorist sponsors is an “external factor” that is not dependent on the Cuban government, economist Perez points out, but he adds that there are “unresolved internal issues.”
Di Miranda pointed out that Diaz Cannell’s government “didn’t offer a reliable strategy to overcome the crisis.” The Cuban economy cannot “go forward until it hampers a centralized management model that is closely tied to the political system,” he said. He commented that the measures implemented by the authorities were partial and would create other issues, but “but what stands out is paralysis.”
Official figures show that migratory birds have risen recently, with population declined for the fourth consecutive year in 2024.
