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Cuba’s Future: Between Haiti and Bukele?

HAVANA TIMES – Criminal violence, even in its most extreme forms, is becoming endemic in Cuba.

While at the beginning of this year the most common topics of everyday conversation were the possibility of US intervention and the deportation of Cubans from that country, today the most frequently discussed issues in streets and neighborhoods are the lack of basic services (electricity and water), runaway inflation, and what we might call “the people’s crime blotter.”

A youth gang robbed a small business in Havana, and the police arrived too late.

A couple riding a motorcycle at night near the town of Jaruco were left bleeding profusely on the road, their faces disfigured and their vehicle stolen. Miraculously, they survived, but neither the perpetrators nor the motorcycle were ever found.

A man wearing a doctor’s coat entered the waiting room of Havana’s prestigious Institute of Cardiology, approached a nurse who was talking on her cell phone, held a knife to her throat, and stole her phone. That was the end of the story, with patients and medical staff left in a state of panic and the authorities taking no action whatsoever.

A farmer had a pair of oxen stolen. The police arrived a week after the incident, the animals were never recovered, and, to make matters worse, the courts ordered the farmer to pay a hefty fine for “failing to protect” a resource considered important to the State.

Stories abound of organized gangs operating in communities across the country, generally calling themselves “Los 300” (The 300), and terrorizing residents who possess anything of value.

Tourists are victims of robberies and scams.

All these incidents are recounted among neighbors and on social media. Even well-known intellectuals and other public figures report burglars........

© Havana Times