14ymedio, Havana, 5 March 2025 –The collusion – by work or omission – of officials and leaders has contributed to the criminal panorama, which has reached an unprecedented “complexity” in Las Tunas, according to the police on Tuesday. The authorities registered 300 crimes last week, mostly “felonies against state entities,” in which several local authorities were involved.
“Policemen are not enough,” was the slogan with which Walter Simón Noris, the first secretary of the Communist Party in Las Tunas, illustrated during a meeting with the provincial government and the police the need for all local leaders to get involved in surveillance and denunciation, especially of multiple “negligent” cadres.
This is well exemplified by the “repeated” robbery of ration stores and state warehouses, especially in the facilities of the Cuban Bread Company in the municipality of Colombia. Noris called for “more energetic measures” against those who allow the theft of resources, such as the administrator of a ration store in Manatí who – according to the police – “facilitated a robbery.”
Las Tunas is not alone. “Officials in analogous administrative jurisdictions are under investigation for similar situations,” she explained.
The governor of the province, Yelenis Tornet, said she was concerned “about the weak punitive measures” against the leaders
The governor of the province, Yelenis Tornet, said she was concerned “about the weak punitive measures” against the leaders. Some, she reported, ignore their subordinates when they commit a crime and allege “communication problems” to justify being “on the sidelines.”
The theft of cables – which has caused at least one death in Cuba, according to the Unión Eléctrica (UNE) – is “another front that generates attention,” according to the executives. Thieves do not only target UNE facilities, such as transformers or, more recently, photovoltaic parks, but also steal equipment from schools and workplaces.
“An administrative process was opened against a worker at the Las Tunas Psychopedagogical Center for trying to steal funds from the property. Others are being investigated for stealing the generator of the Mártires de Las Tunas pediatric hospital,” Tornet reported.
The communications monopoly Etecsa has also denounced the “vandalism” of its facilities. In 2024, 19 events of this type occurred in the province. “The evildoers have increasingly set their eyes on the basic fixed telephone network that reaches homes,” it says. In addition, other elements are stolen, such as the perimeter fences of their offices.
There is an increase in the consumption of ’el químico’ [the chemical] compared to 2024, the leaders categorically said, without offering data
Drugs – and in particular the omnipresent “chemical” – are “a priority,” and it is no wonder. There is an increase in consumption compared to 2024, the leaders categorically said, without offering data. There is “a diversification of the substances used and an increase in consumption among unemployed young people.”
A report from the beginning of February gives an idea of the situation. Of the more than 500 consultations made last year by Toxicology in the province, 80% were for drug abuse. The most frequent ages were between 13 and 17 years old, although the case of a child who started consumption at only eight years old is known.
The leaders alluded to a “recent operation” carried out on February 26, which ended with the arrest of seven citizens in Peoples’ Council 1 of the main municipality. Cocaine, marijuana and the “chemical” were confiscated from the sellers, and they were transferred to the Investigation Unit in the province, accused of drug trafficking. The investigation is continuing, they warned.
Some 40% of the reported crimes have to do with the livestock sector. Because of hunger, bad practices and the illegal butchers, Las Tunas lost 25,000 cows last year, according to the official press. There are just over 200,000 animals left, and the infrastructure for their care is on the verge of collapse. “At the rate of so many losses, cattle breeding is in danger of disappearing,” the same newspaper admitted at the beginning of February.
The Cuban Prosecutor’s Office has promised “severity” for thieves of all types of goods
The Cuban Prosecutor’s Office has promised “severity” for thieves of all types of goods, given the crisis that Cuba has been experiencing for months. However, the Ministry of the Interior recognizes that it is not able to arrest criminals and asks, according to the official press, that “each organization structure the protection of its resources.” No one knows how this can be done.
On the threshold of the East and traditionally neglected by Havana, Las Tunas has been demanding resources and solutions from the Government for years. Two crises occurred in the province at the beginning of 2024, concerning the water supply and Communal Services, which were aggravated by the national energy debacle and the increase in the number of cattle rustlers in the countryside.
Now, Las Tunas Province, once called the “balcony of the East,” has become a powerful enclave for the sale of “the chemical.” Local leaders, in the words of Periódico 26, have already become accustomed to seeing “glimpses of illegality” in almost any sector.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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