Postcard from Las Piedras, Cuba

In “Slums of Havana” Award -winning journalist David Adams takes viewers in a journey through the decaying infrastructure of Havana, and the conditions under which many there are forced to live due to a shortage of adequate housing.

The program examines the reality of life in “Las Piedras,” a squatter community on the eastern outskirts of Havana.
Known locally as ‘Llega y Pon,’ (literally ‘Arrive and Put Down’) these communities are home to thousands of Cubans, mostly poor migrants from cities in the east of the island.

On first look, Las Piedras is like any other shanty town you’d find in Latin America, with electricity stolen from overhead cables and most residents working in the black market. But, despite their illegal status and Cuba’s dire economy, the shanty towns are not excluded from the free social services offered by Cuba’s communist system. Residents receive free education and health care, including doctors’ visits and milk rations for newborns.

And while they patiently wait for improvements in their living conditions, they do so with a smile on their faces.

Among those interviewed is renowned Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez, as well as many of the inhabitants of Las Piedras.