A group of community activists from the neighborhood "El Chico," in the Boyeros municipality of the capital, held a neighborhood debate aimed at mobilizing the population against the acts of vandalism that have affected telecommunications infrastructure in Havana and other cities across the country in recent months.
The event, part of a campaign promoted by the Cuban regime, featured the participation of local and national authorities, including Joel Paz Pérez, a member of the National Secretariat of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR).
During the event, several participants called for "citizen vigilance" and urged a proactive attitude starting from home. A member of the CDR, visibly agitated, declared: "Here, we are all police officers", in an attempt to reaffirm the commitment to the Revolutionary National Police (PNR) which, she said, must begin at the family level.
"The first thing we need to do is combat that from our homes. We are the Revolutionary Police. Who says we are not police? Here, we are all police! When we are able to address wrongdoing from our family nucleus, from our home," the CDR member shouted at the event, according to a report from the National Television News (NTV).
The debate also included representatives from the Prosecutor's Office and the Provincial Court of Havana, who warned that crimes associated with vandalism have a "broad sanctioning framework" and could be classified as crimes against state security.
The penalties —as explained— range from 7 to 30 years of imprisonment, and even include life imprisonment or the death penalty under certain circumstances.
The speakers emphasized that these criminal acts not only affect the infrastructure, but also represent, in their opinion, a direct threat to the stability of the Cuban regime.
Among the mentioned examples were damages to the telecommunications network, traffic signals, public transportation, and state and private properties. In many cases, they assured, the culprits have cut cables multiple times, causing service interruptions.
The Cederistas agreed in blaming the "external enemy" for being behind these incidents, suggesting that the acts of vandalism are part of a strategy to "undermine the credibility of the Revolution." Without providing evidence, they indicated that these actions aim to destabilize the country and generate public discontent.
This neighborhood debate is part of a series of meetings promoted since February by the Cuban regime, in an attempt to reactivate social control structures like the so-called CDR and to hold citizens accountable for containing phenomena that, according to independent reports, are more related to the economic crisis and institutional deterioration than to coordinated actions from abroad.
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