Farmers from Holguín take justice into their own hands and patrol in response to a wave of thefts.

Farmers from the Las Casimbas popular council, in the municipality of Calixto García, Holguín, decided to take action and patrol the area to curb a growing wave of thefts, mainly of livestock.

In response to insecurity, a coordinated popular surveillance exercise took place this Thursday, which included the Ministry of the Interior (MININT), whose forces have been unable to resolve the situation.

The initiative arose in response to the high number of crimes in the region. The farmers began to patrol on foot, on bicycles, and on horseback, among other means.

In an informational note, the digital page of the weekly Ahora gave a marked political touch to the complex situation: “Joel Queipo Ruíz, a member of the Central Committee and the first secretary of the Party in Holguín, expressed the commitment to defend the homeland and highlighted the success of a similar experience in the community of Las Brisas, in the main municipality,” it published.

However, the reality is that the farmers had to put the initiative into practice in order to protect their work and the food for their families in the face of the ineffectiveness of the National Police.

In 2023, the authorities of Holguín reported that more than 7,400 head of cattle were lost in that territory due to theft and illegal slaughter.

But the surveillance strategy is not new either. In November 2023, the Ministry of the Interior in the Villaclare municipality of Placetas created the so-called "rural patrols" to try to curb the increasing theft of livestock in that area.

The "Fuerza del Pueblo" profile on Facebook, spokesperson for the Minint, said that "actions are being taken to strengthen the Revolutionary Vigilance with rural patrols and to prevent any wrongdoing that occurs in the area."

In May, it was revealed that Las Tunas was the Cuban territory with the highest incidence of cattle theft and slaughter (cows and horses). In just the first four months of this year, 1,954 crimes related to the theft and slaughter of 3,480 heads of cattle and horses were recorded.

The violations have been detected in 341 units of the agricultural sector in the province, according to the digital site Periódico 26.