Armed altercation between youths in the Callejón del Carmen, Santiago de Cuba.

An armed altercation occurred this Tuesday in the Callejón del Carmen, in the historic center of Santiago de Cuba, forcing some self-employed individuals to defend themselves against the provocations of two armed young men, allegedly residents of the Los Pinos neighborhood.

In the incident, there were no reported deaths or injuries, reported journalist Yosmany Mayeta on Facebook, who also stated that the causes that led to the altercation are unknown.

However, the communicator reminded that on this street in the city, dedicated to self-employed activities, misunderstandings between sellers and customers are common.

"The fights that arise there are with the self-employed who sell phones or repaired equipment and sell them as if they were new, generating mistrust and causing some fights and arguments days later," he pointed out.

The Callejón del Carmen in Santiago de Cuba is a small street designated by the local government for self-employed individuals and entrepreneurs.

Currently, it is a thoroughfare with dozens of businesses, including phone repair shops, shoe and handcrafted clothing sales, and photography studios.

The province of Santiago de Cuba is experiencing a concerning increase in violent incidents in the first months of 2024, a trend confirmed by the Prosecutor's Office to the state media.

Elizabeth Govea Maceo, head prosecutor of the Provincial Department of Criminal Proceedings, acknowledged that "in relation to the violent events and crimes committed against the life and integrity of individuals," there has been a "high rate of incidents," according to a report from the Sierra Maestra newspaper.

However, the increase in violence is not an exclusive phenomenon of Santiago de Cuba.

The Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez confirmed the increase in violence, crime, and addictions in the country, in the context of what he called an "adverse socioeconomic scenario."

During the closing speech of the third session of the National Assembly in its tenth legislature, the leader highlighted that the ongoing action of the Ministry of the Interior and the justice organs, in close connection with the people, has made it possible to discover, prevent, and confront multiple criminal patterns and trends in recent years.