Juan Luis Vasallo Palomo, known on social media as "El Quijote Bayamés," publicly reported that thieves from the neighborhood stole rice and sugar from his house through a window in Bayamo, Granma province.
Vasallo Palomo recounted that he left his house and accidentally left the window open, and upon returning, he found that two or three pounds of imported rice—just arrived from the store—and a pound of sugar had been stolen.
"I accidentally left the window open when I went out today. I just got back and found the measuring cup for the rice and the spoon through that window. I don’t know how these thieves managed to do it," the complainant stated in the video.
Vasallo Palomo claimed to know one of the perpetrators, whom he identified as neighbors from the neighborhood, and noted that the same thieves also robbed his cousin, identified as Idy.
However, he dismissed the idea of going to the authorities: "Why would I go to the police? They don't work, they do nothing; the police today don’t handle criminals," he stated with resignation.
The complainant displayed the aftermath of the theft in a second video and emphasized the seriousness of what happened. "You can see the hunger that exists in Cuba; if they can't take something, like money or a phone, they take the food. In Cuba today, food is being stolen," he noted with a tone of resignation.
Vasallo Palomo also lamented not being able to find sugar anywhere to replenish what had been stolen, highlighting the chronic shortage of basic products on the island.
Despite the outrage, the activist offered a conditional apology to the perpetrators: "What I'm going to ask God for is that those people who did this to me, truly did it because they were hungry, forgiven thieves." But he warned that if they escalate to stealing other things, "that will definitely upset me a lot."
The case reflects a reality that is repeated throughout Cuba. According to the Cuban Citizen Audit Observatory, thefts on the island increased by 232% between 2023 and 2025, with an average of 7.3 crimes daily during the first half of 2025, and more than 40% of cases remain unresolved.
Distrust in the police is widespread, and many Cubans choose not to report thefts believing it to be pointless, just like Vasallo Palomo did.
Rice and sugar are items in the rationed basic basket that arrive irregularly at state stores and hold immense value for Cuban families, in a context where the cost of living reaches up to 40,000 pesos a month, nearly seven times the average salary.
"This is to show you where we have arrived, in case you thought you had seen it all," concluded Vasallo Palomo, bitterly summarizing the situation faced by the Cuban people after decades of dictatorship.
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