Police found 168 boxes of Occidental Rum, from a state-owned company, diverted to the black market
14ymedio, Havana, 6 December 2024 — Private businesses are the main target of the persecution by inspectors in the “national exercise against crime and illegalities,” but they also do not escape cases of corruption in state entities, such as the Occidental Rum, in Havana, where several employees ended up “sanctioned” and “removed from the center.”
According to the Cuban Television news program, which offers only superficial information, it was discovered that “the alleged perpetrators” were diverting bottles of rum, marking them as waste in the registers. “Days ago, the authorities seized 168 boxes of Legendario rum in a house in San Miguel del Padrón. Destination: the black market,” the media explains.
From that point on, the information lacks relevant details, such as the positions held by those involved or what kind of measures will be taken against them. “In addition to being under police investigation, those involved received heavy administrative sanctions including dismissal from the center,” is all that is clarified.
The “control” has not gone down well with citizens, even less with those who have businesses and investments to protect.
The rest is the usual voluntarism* approach of state entities, which is based solely on the time and disposition of workers: strengthening “the workers’ guard,” applying “surprise checks” or improving “the prevention plan.” In an attempt to clean up their reputation, the authorities of the rum factory also promised to “produce a bottle of refined rum for each of the more than 700,000 Havana families by the end of the year.”
The “control” has not gone down well with citizens, and even less with those who have businesses and investments to protect, who are increasingly surrounded by laws and distrust of the government. At the end of the year, the authorities have launched a campaign to collect millions of pesos in fines and hold exemplary trials such as the one last Wednesday in Guantanamo, where four state workers were sentenced to one year in prison for diverting food.
In Ciego de Ávila, students from three pre-university schools and other higher institutes were even called upon. They are divided into groups made up of inspectors and students and are in charge of verifying that the merchants have their prices up to date and within the legal limits. According to the applause of the provincial media Invasor, which forgets that the students are close to midterm exams, the group of adolescents contributes “to confronting speculative prices and other illegalities detected in the self-employed sector.”
The authorities have also carried out nightly “operations” in “specific food trafficking scenarios in the territory.” In one raid alone on 15 food stalls in the early hours of Wednesday morning, 72,000 pesos were collected in fines.
In contrast, in Sancti Spíritus, where this newspaper reported the closure of several private businesses due to the persecution of inspectors, the leaders are not satisfied. “Even though there are tangible results in confronting negative behavior, we are still far from what we should achieve,” concluded Deivy Pérez Martín, first secretary of the Communist Party in the province.
The principle problem in the territory, however, is not the illegalities. “Sancti Spíritus shows a deficit of 150 million pesos, which are needed to close the year with a surplus. Although the Onat [National Tax Administration Office] has managed to collect some 30 million pesos from taxpayers, there are still another 35 million waiting for defaulters to pay their debts at the corresponding bank branches,” explains Escambray.
The media believes that, “even if it is a bit too finalistic,” it is necessary to provide solutions to the “irregularities” detected. “Therefore, the authorities and the organizations involved, all of them, together with the people, have to take part not only for one week but every day of the year in the fight against crimes, corruption, illegalities and social indiscipline,” which, in the words of Escambray, “is a lot to cover.”
*Translator’s note: Relying on voluntary action.
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