A video published by independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada shows a person attempting to steal small liquefied gas cylinders —known in Cuba as "balitas"— from a moving truck on the highway in Santiago de Cuba, or getting onto the moving vehicle to "hitch a ride."
The scene, captured on the highway and shared on Facebook under the title "WILD: ATTEMPTING TO STEAL TRUCK CARGO IN MOTION ON THE SANTIAGO DE CUBA HIGHWAY," reflects the level of desperation to which the population has descended due to the chronic liquefied gas crisis, particularly in the eastern part of the country.
In the audio of the video, the reactions of witnesses to the incident can be heard, with phrases that reveal their disbelief at what was happening before their eyes.
In the comments, some people claim that it was not a robbery but an attempt to take advantage of transportation amid the fuel crisis in the country. "The man was hitching a ride," said one internet user.
The act poses an extreme risk both for the man hanging from the truck and for other users on the highway, a high-speed route where any maneuver of this kind can end in tragedy.
Mayeta Labrada has been documenting the gas crisis in Santiago de Cuba for years. In September 2024, she had already recorded arrests of suspected gas cylinder thieves in the region, and in December 2025, she disseminated testimonies about corruption and irregularities at liquefied gas distribution points in the José Martí neighborhood.
The incident is not an isolated event. In 2025, a clandestine network was dismantled in Sancti Spíritus that operated between January and May, stealing and reselling gas canisters illegally.
In Artemisa, an official simulated the theft of 40 cylinders to divert fuel. In Havana and Cienfuegos, gangs involved in the trafficking of liquefied gas were also dismantled.
Clandestine networks overload the cylinders —up to 80 pounds versus the allowed 60— and sell them on the black market, also increasing the risk of explosion in homes.
The gas shortage in Cuba is linked to failures in supply from Venezuela, Jamaica, and Curacao, as well as the debts accumulated by the state enterprise CUPET, all of which are a direct consequence of the economic model imposed by more than six decades of communist dictatorship.
The desperation of Cubans to obtain a basic necessity like cooking gas has reached a point where risking their lives on a highway seems, for some, like a valid option.
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