Cuban woman denounces maneuvers by authorities to seize her father's truck in Santiago de Cuba.

A young Cuban woman reported the illegal seizure of her father's truck in Santiago de Cuba for alleged illicit activity and accused the authorities of delaying the clarification of the case in order to confiscate and appropriate the vehicle.

Liset Vallejo Salazar recounted this in a social media post she turned to due to the silence of the authorities and the maneuvers to delay the sanctioning procedure, aiming to fraudulently confiscate the private transporter's truck.

“I want to clarify that before making this post, we have filed complaints at the relevant places and have not been heard. We are resorting to social media with no other option, we did not want to have to turn to social media but they leave us no choice. General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Cuba, with all due respect, we want to be listened to and have the work of the prosecutor's office in Santiago de Cuba reviewed,” Vallejo Salazar said on Facebook.

According to the young woman's testimony, her father and other truck drivers have been in prison for a year and a month, still awaiting trial. Throughout this time, the vehicle has remained impounded as a "deposit" at the facilities of a state-owned company.

The father, "along with other truck drivers working for the port in Santiago de Cuba, have been in prison for a year and a month without trial. They have their truck at the DIVEP company as a deposit. Note that it is not confiscated, but the company is already selling it, and the prosecution is allowing it because they knew about this from the beginning and that's why the truck was placed there."

The complaints and warnings from the family and lawyers have been dismissed. The authorities tell them that "they are not valid." In addition, according to Vallejo Salazar, the file opened against his father and his companions is full of false accusations "with thousands of irregularities."

Apparently, the authorities in Santiago are accusing them of a robbery that never happened, since "they never even left the port, and there were no financial losses, as the soybeans were deposited in the silos right from the port."

"These trucks represent the support for children and elderly people without a steady income, who currently rely on neighbors and friends. In the case of my dad, it's about a truck inherited from his father's side of the family," the young woman said.

The truck, a magnificent vehicle from the manufacturer Fargo Motor Car Company of Chicago -which later passed into the hands of Chrysler and Dodge- appears to be in perfect conservation condition, despite having more than six decades of operation. Photographs shared by the author of the publication attest to this.

However, after the vehicle was returned to its rightful owner, the family fears that it may end up being "cannibalized" (taken apart for parts) or affected by the poor protection conditions of the storage where it is located.

The company that retains the vehicle and what the Law says in Cuba

The Commercialization Company DIVEP (Division of Equipment and Parts) belongs to the Corporate State Marketing Group of SIME (Metallurgical Mechanical Industry). It is responsible for the commercialization of heavy and light transportation equipment, parts, accessories, and aggregates for agriculture and construction, along with all related activities, including imports and exports.

Among its activities, technical services, equipment and facilities leasing, and other means suitable for state, mixed, and private entities are also considered, as well as the sale of parts, pieces, aggregates, and accessories widely used by the population.

With the approval in 2021 of Law No. 143 "Criminal Procedure Law," the criminal instructor has a maximum period of 90 days to carry out the investigative actions and other proceedings of the preparatory phase.

However, the prosecutor may grant an extension of this period for the completion of the file, which can be extended up to 180 days from the date of the initiation resolution, "moment in which the criminal investigator is obliged to hand it over to the prosecutor in the condition in which it is, and, exceptionally, the Attorney General's Office may grant a new extension for the conclusion of the investigation of the file, for the time warranted by the complexity of the matter."