"Exemplary" trial in Sancti Spíritus: Six and four years in prison for two citizens for illegal livestock slaughter

While access to meat is an unattainable luxury for most Cubans, the government responds with a heavy hand.

This week, the Provincial People's Court of Sancti Spíritus sentenced two citizens to six and four years in prison for theft and illegal slaughter of large livestock.

According to the newspaper Escambray, the main defendant was sentenced for the crimes of theft and illegal slaughter of livestock, as well as trafficking in its meat, receiving a combined penalty of six years in prison.

The second individual was only involved in the transport of the merchandise, which is why he was deemed responsible for the second crime under the charge of trafficking in his goods, and he received a sentence of four years.

The trial is part of the Third National Exercise for Crime Prevention and Confrontation, a campaign by the regime that prioritizes punishment over solutions, without considering the social or economic context that drives many Cubans to resort to these practices.

As in recent cases in Holguín and Camagüey, where individuals were sentenced to eight and six years in prison for such offenses, the authorities emphasize the "exemplary" nature of these proceedings, designed to send a warning message to the population.

Instead of implementing restorative policies or addressing the deterioration of the Cuban agri-food system, the government chooses to stage repression as a means of containing popular despair.

Structural crisis and real impunity

The policy of public punishment contrasts sharply with the structural abandonment of the countryside, where illegality ceases to be an isolated act.

The government claims that the illegal slaughter of livestock impacts the economy and presents it as a threat to national security.

However, that official narrative omits a central point: the scarcity is the result of political decisions and failed management of the agricultural sector, not individual actions.

Instead of addressing the root causes of the crisis—such as the lack of supplies, institutional corruption, and the lack of protection for farmers—the State only takes action against the slaughterhouses.

Exemplary trials, far from deterring, highlight the government's inability to guarantee the basic right to food.

The authorities insist on their "preventive role" and the message they wish to convey to the citizens: repression will be the means to curb crimes that, however, arise from hunger and necessity.

Critics warn that, without structural solutions and real access to meat, exemplary sentences will achieve little in curbing that practice.

Testimonies from the Field

In response to the rise in crime, some farmers chose to sell all their livestock due to the wave of unchecked thefts.

In April, a producer in the Vegas area, between Cárdenas and Santa Marta, reported that eight of his animals were killed in a matter of days, without any support or protection.

In Matanzas, another farmer reported the slaughter of pregnant cows and bulls, without the State providing a concrete response.

While farmers are forced to part with their livestock out of fear of thieves and a lack of resources, the criminal chain continues to grow fueled by necessity.

A mechanism of control, not of justice

The Third National Exercise -driven by Miguel Díaz-Canel from the Communist Party- combines audits, energy inspections, popular oversight, and public trials.

More than a legal campaign, this is a massive social control mechanism. The practice of exposing the accused to the media and the community aims to instill discipline through fear, rather than through justice.

With more than 9,000 people involved in crimes related to cattle in 2024, according to figures from the Ministry of the Interior, the phenomenon can no longer be understood as common crime.

It is a symptom of a collapsing economy and a state that has ceased to guarantee the most essential needs.

Instead of structural solutions, the regime resorts to punishment as spectacle.

But punishing hunger does not eradicate it. It merely conceals it, momentarily, behind a judicial facade that increasingly convinces less those who are trying to survive.

Frequently Asked Questions about Trials for Illegal Livestock Slaughter in Cuba