For the Cuban government, the robberies reported in recent days and the growing violence on the island do not exist. The Ministry of the Interior published a statement this Friday in which it insists that events reported on social networks, in particular those related to the theft of electric motorcycles, “are events that occurred in previous years or fake news.”
This, according to the Ministry, is intended “to generate a climate of impunity and public insecurity in the midst of the end of the year festivities.”
However, in the same text it is acknowledged that there have been people arrested for this crime, and that “they have faced the corresponding penal consequences.”
The note, which was read on the national television news, says that “receivers,” some shop owners and mechanics, as well as “citizens who have been warned or fined for trusting the unscrupulous,” have been prosecuted.
The note also claims to have established the modus operandi of these seizures: “Taking advantage of the victims’ neglect, the lack of protection of the property in the public thoroughfare, the commercialization of parts, pieces and accessories or the use of false property documents.”
Regarding the complaints made to the authorities that have not yet been cleared up, the ministry explains that “they are working hard,” and details that in some of the investigations carried out “there are concrete elements that will allow the arrest” of the guilty and the recovery of the stolen goods.
“Citizen tranquility constitutes a conquest of the Cuban Revolution, and it will continue to be so. There will be no impunity and there will always be vigorous action against criminals,” the note concludes in a triumphalist tone.
The reality shown by social networks and testimonies collected by this newspaper is something else. “On the corner they assaulted a friend of my mother to take her phone,” “in my building they broke the gate over the door to steal but the dog barked and the men ran away,” “they left my sister without her wallet when she got off the bus,” are some of the stories of violence that have been heard in Cuba in recent weeks.
Now during the New Year’s celebration, which has been marked by shortages and high prices, there were also a series of reports of assaults that have put many Cubans on alert.
Thefts with a knife, theft of gold chains or cell phones, theft of electric motorcycles, have been some of the most frequent complaints about the lack of security that exists on Cuban streets.
Some profiles on social networks and especially groups such as motorcycle clubs have reported some of the violent thefts of electric motorcycles. “The best thing is to avoid the red lights,” they warn. In one of the videos that circulated, you can see the moment when a man who is riding one of these vehicles is assaulted at a traffic light and is thrown in the street while the thieves ride away on the motorcycle.
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