These sentences emphasize the regime’s concern about the rise in crime.
14ymedio, Madrid, 10 December 2024 — Cuba’s official press has been illustrating these past few days with a series of “exemplary” trials, an adjective little appreciated in modern criminal law, which considers that justice should be fair and not exemplary. One of the latest to come to light is the one that imposed sentences of 20, 25 and 30 years in prison for murder in Santiago de Cuba, a case that did not become public knowledge at the time it occurred.
The events date back to December 4, 2023, during a birthday party that was being celebrated in El Castillito, a town in El Cobre. The three convicted appeared at the party with a large knife and a machete hidden in their clothes. According to the newspaper Sierra Maestra, the presence of these people disturbed the atmosphere, turning it violent and, without it being recorded how a brawl started, one young man died, another was almost killed and four were injured.
“Thanks to the effectiveness and promptness of the Ministry of the Interior in their arrest and the subsequent clarification of the facts, these people are at the disposal of the courts,” the note highlights, describing a model trial with all procedural guarantees. In it, the three accused were convicted of possession of weapons, public disorder, attempted murder and homicide. Although the date of the trial is not specified, it is known that they are still within the period to lodge an appeal.
“Thanks to the effectiveness and promptness of the Ministry of the Interior in their arrest and the subsequent clarification of the facts, these people are at the disposal of the courts”
The note begins with another trial, also held in Santiago, for a less serious crime. In that case, the defendant accused of attempted robbery with violence was sentenced to 10 years in prison, since, in addition, he had been a repeat offender, having been tried on two previous occasions for the same type of crime as well as “maladjusted social behavior.”
The incident occurred in the city of Santiago de Cuba, between Corona and Enramadas streets, when the accused attacked the victim with a knife, threatening to stab her if she did not hand over the glasses she was wearing. “The acts he committed are extremely serious and threaten public peace and social order,” the article adds.
Also this Tuesday, Cubadebate reports on a new case against drug trafficking. In this case, the trial, held “recently” in Havana, was massive, since there were 45 people accused of crimes of this type. The heaviest sentence fell on a person accused of possession, commercialization and distribution of drugs, “for the purpose of personal enrichment.” The sentence was 15 years in prison for the accused, who was arrested in the act of committing the crime.
“The prosecutor stressed the importance of the ruling for public order, pointing out aggravating factors such as the large quantities of drugs, the participation of minors and the recidivism of the accused, which could lead to harsher sentences as part of Cuba’s ongoing efforts to combat drug-related crimes,” adds the article, which joins the one reported this Sunday in which the Prosecutor’s Office requested 20 years for a Havana man for selling cannabinoids.
A man was tried and sentenced for exactly the same crime and will have to serve 19 years in prison after having introduced drugs into the prison upon his return from a pass. The case occurred in Camagüey and was reported by the newspaper Adelante on Saturday.
A man was prosecuted and sentenced for exactly the same crime and will have to serve 19 years in prison after having introduced drugs into prison upon his return from a pass.
Another case has emerged in Holguín in which two people were sentenced to six years in prison for illegally slaughtering cattle and trafficking their meat.
Each and every one of the trials announced these days has a coda paragraph explaining the educational, prophylactic or preventive importance of the publicity – it is inferred – given to these cases, which took place within what the authorities have called the “National Exercise of Prevention and Confrontation of crime, corruption, illegalities and social indiscipline.”
As part of this process, which began on December 2 , “more than 4,000 preventive and prophylactic actions have been carried out, which involved the transfer to police stations of more than 3,300 people involved in crimes and illegalities,” Colonel Deniset González reported on television.
The data is of all kinds, from the 100 people tried for theft and receiving cattle to the 50 people prosecuted for price violations, another 15 warned and 900 fined, all of them workers and owners of private businesses. There was also talk of violations of traffic regulations, “non-compliance or abandonment of guard duty,” and supervisions of very specific areas, such as young people presented as troublemakers, as well as shopkeepers, administrators and gas distributors, among others.
In addition, the completion of criminal proceedings has been “strengthened” with a view to taking precautionary measures or requesting the opening of oral proceedings quickly. Among the priorities, the officials interviewed said, has been “the confrontation of crimes that affect the national electrical system,” including the theft of insulating oil, acts that could lead to an accusation of the crime of sabotage.
For violations and crimes of an economic or fiscal nature, more than 200 fines worth 2.18 million pesos were imposed and tax debts of more than 61.3 million pesos were determined.
For violations and crimes of an economic or fiscal nature, more than 200 fines were imposed worth 2.18 million pesos and tax debts of more than 61.3 million pesos were determined, in addition to the confiscation of 3.4 million pesos in cash to be deposited in banks.
The most striking data relate to “price control.” The Minister of Finance and Prices, Vladimir Regueiro Ale, said that 508,845 inspections have been carried out “and a level of non-compliance has been detected that we have not been able to rectify. The main incidents are related to abusive or speculative prices, irregularities in weighing and concealment of goods. This persists and, therefore, greater control, greater consistency and greater confrontation are required in each of the territories.”
It is not surprising, rather the contrary, that the minister confirms that irregularities occur both in the state and private sectors. As a result, hundreds of thousands of fines have been imposed which, although they contribute 814 million pesos to the state coffers, do not seem to be large if divided among those sanctioned, since the average is only 2,600 pesos (about 8 dollars in the informal currency market).
The minister summarized that, as far as fiscal control is concerned, more than 6,000 “control actions” have been carried out, which have allowed 680 businesses to be temporarily closed “until the economic actor rectifies its behavior and acts in accordance with what is established. Otherwise, it will be closed permanently.”
Maricela Sosa Ravelo, vice president of the Supreme People’s Court of Cuba and also present in the program dedicated to offering these data, specifically those in the criminal field, stated that “citizen tranquility is essential and, therefore, the acts committed against our agents of the Ministry of the Interior are serious acts.”
The multitude of reported cases is intended to demonstrate the state’s control over crime, but it also highlights its inability to prevent it and shows that the population’s fears of increasing crime are not unfounded.
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