It is unknown when the events occurred, nor is it known whether there has been environmental damage in the Bay.
14ymedio, Madrid, 27 March 2025 — Two workers at the Ñico López refinery have been prosecuted for spilling 280,000 liters of regular gasoline (B-90) while unloading the fuel from the ship into the storage tanks. According to Habana Noticiario, the workers were subjected to a criminal trial in the Diez de Octubre Municipal People’s Court for the crime of “failure to fulfill the duty to protect the assets of state-owned economic entities.”
Article 302 of the Penal Code provides for a penalty of between six months and two years and/or a fine of 200 to 500 ’shares’ for this type of crime. It is unknown whether the gasoline was also dumped into Havana Bay, causing environmental damage.
The defendants, the brief publication stated, “did not follow established procedures” to carry out their work, causing losses estimated at more than five million pesos. The figure has been questioned by various users who reacted with astonishment to the information. “280,000 liters of B-90 gasoline were lost, and [there is] an economic loss of 5 million. That results in a liter costing 17 pesos and they sell me a liter of regular gasoline for 132,” calculated one Facebook user. “Cimex sells a liter of B-90 for 134 CUP,” estimated another, “so they would have collected more than 37.5 million pesos. Where did they get the 5 million loss?”
The penal code, in its article 302, provides for this type of crimes a penalty of between six months and two years, and/or a fine of 200 to 500 shares.
The names of the two workers, the date of the incident, and the sentence, which is presumed to have not yet been issued, have not been released. “More details in upcoming broadcasts of Habana Noticiario,” the publication announced. The news has sparked discussion on social media, where people are questioning, among other things, why two employees are taking sole responsibility for the incident.
“These unfortunate people paid for the audacity of others, including the administrator who is accusing them. They didn’t have the necessary training, because it wasn’t given to them, and on top of that, they worked without a supervisor,” laments one commentator, wondering where the defendants’ superiors were. “Was there so much fuel dumping that the company was forced to abandon its workers to their fate? Many more questions could be asked, but the judge isn’t interested, and the lawyer they had wasn’t able to ask them because it had already been determined who would bear the brunt.”
Although the authorities have aired the news in a further gesture of firmness against crime, most of the responses demonstrate the public’s discontent at seeing the weight of the law fall first, most forcefully, and with greater publicity on those with the least level of responsibility. “Comrade Gil stole more than that and they haven’t done anything to him. How ironic, right?” one user exclaimed, referring to the former Minister of Economy and Planning, who has been imprisoned—allegedly—for a corruption offense for over a year, with no information yet on what he did.
“And when will a court hold a trial for former Economy Minister Alejandro Gil and Deputy Prime Minister Jorge Luis Perdomo?”
His case was similar to that of another leader, whom citizens also remember. “And when will a court hold a trial for former Economy Minister Alejandro Gil and Deputy Prime Minister Jorge Luis Perdomo? When will they inform the people of the estimated economic losses due to their failure to fulfill their duties? How shameless!” adds another.
Perdomo was removed from office for “errors in the performance of his duties” in October 2024, and there is no news of what happened to him, just as in the case of his cabinet colleague.
Some online commenters, a minority, have expressed support for a strict enforcement of the penal code and believe that such a crime could even be linked to the “counterrevolution.”
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