The theft of oil and liquefied gas is among the concerns of the authorities, who are unable to control it even by toughening the applicable crime.
14ymedio, Madrid, 31 July 2025 — Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero reiterated his warning in a meeting with authorities: Given the current situation in the country, fuel theft could be considered a crime of sabotage. The meeting addressed the results of the “confrontation” with the crime, whose figures, according to officials, are tending to decline but remain high. The most worrying are precisely those linked to the theft of oil and liquefied gas, and they originate from within: cases are increasing at service stations, and there are “diversions” in cylinders, according to the official press.
“It is unacceptable that today the country has a deficit in electricity generation capacity due to a lack of fuel, and at the same time we allow its theft,” Marrero declared. The Prime Minister argued that “the scarce amount of fuel” that the State can “afford and purchase” is allocated to electricity generation, making it essential to closely monitor “the minimum allocated to the economy” and “modify our approach in the face of indiscipline.”
The Prime Minister then noted that these offenses could be prosecuted as sabotage, one of the most serious crimes in the criminal code, with penalties of between four and ten years in prison. This warning is not new, as the criminal code specifically stipulates that it will be applied to anyone who “destroys, alters, damages, or harms” a long list of “means, resources, buildings, installations, or socioeconomic or military units,” among which energy sources are at the top of the list.
Fuel theft cases have recently been prosecuted as “sabotage.” One of the most notorious occurred last April, resulting in a seven-year sentence.
Recently fuel theft cases have come to be prosecuted as “sabotage.” One of the most notorious occurred last April, when a Ciego de Ávila court sentenced a generator worker to seven years in prison for stealing “30 liters of diesel.” Although the employee had no prior criminal record, the acts were considered to go beyond theft due to their “seriousness and harmful nature.” “The crime of sabotage affects the public good and the internal security of the State,” said the Prosecutor’s Office.
In February, the mayor of Manzanillo, Granma, was arrested along with other officials for por la izquierda [on the left] business dealings with oil intended for utilities and state-owned companies. The news was exclusive to 14ymedio, as the official press has not reported these events, and the criminal status of those arrested or what crimes they are charged with is unknown.
The crimes under which fuel theft was previously prosecuted were embezzlement or misappropriation (depending on whether or not it was committed by an official responsible for the property), theft or robbery (depending on whether or not force was used), and receiving stolen goods, in the case of fraudulent acquisition. This was explained in 2019 by Reinaldo Cruz Rivera, Deputy Attorney General of the Republic of Cuba, in a Cubadebate article dedicated to the incessant theft of this product.
The article indicated that in the first half of the year, there were 339 criminal proceedings for these crimes, and 117,463 liters of fuel of various types had been seized—85,823 liters of diesel and 21,016 liters of gasoline—causing damages estimated at 488,644 pesos. With this data, Cubadebate questioned whether the government’s decisions were effective. The 1987 penal code, which already had the same wording for sabotage, was in effect at the time, but it did not apply to fuel theft.
Marrero Cruz urged “determining and mitigating the causes and conditions that lead to indiscipline surrounding the sale of liquefied petroleum gas.”
At the recent meeting, Marrero Cruz called for increased surveillance—something that has been unsuccessfully proposed in numerous meetings—and urged “determining and mitigating the causes and conditions that lead to indiscipline surrounding the sale of liquefied petroleum gas,” although it is clear that the scarcity, if not the absence, of the product is what fuels the theft. Colonel Daniset González Sánchez specified that part of the responsibility stems from “the U.S. government’s policy of maximum pressure against the island, exaggerating the country’s situation to encourage subversive actions.”
Regarding other crimes, it was determined that insufficient action has been taken against officials, who are responsible for many economic crimes, which are the work of those “who operate from within institutions and know their vulnerabilities.” Burglaries have increased, as many citizens constantly report on social media, despite the fact that the overall number of violations has decreased, authorities indicated, without, as usual, providing data.
Crimes related to livestock also decreased, with the majority being thefts “since only 25% of cases show signs of slaughter.” Furthermore, “more than 200 prevention and response actions” were carried out in the drug sector, and although it is reported that “significant volumes of narcotics” were seized, the exact amount was not disclosed.
Reinaldo Cruz Rivera warned that many fines are imposed—again, without figures to support this—but very few are collected, which “encourages impunity.” He therefore called for “optimizing and supervising the operation of tax-paying entities, as well as collection offices, to prevent non-compliance,” without clarifying the plan to eventually proceed with defaulters.
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