A Cuban identified as Junior subdued and restrained a pickpocket in broad daylight to turn him over to the police, in a scene captured on video that reflects the growing need for citizens to confront criminals on their own due to the inefficiency of the police force.
The clip was posted on Facebook by the user Ezequiel Puldon with the title "Divine treasure of youth... We are lost," an ironic reference to the famous poem by Rubén Darío regarding the youth of the captured delinquent.
In the video, which lasts one minute and five seconds, you can hear a woman recounting how three criminals ran past them and snatched the phone from the young man.
"Come on, man, don’t get involved in that," another witness present scolds the thief.
"It makes me sad to see these things. It truly saddens me, you know. So young, damn it," the woman concludes, with a lament that encapsulates the feelings of many Cubans.
This scene is not an isolated incident. In the absence or inefficiency of the police, Cubans have increasingly resorted to confronting criminals themselves.
Residents in Santiago de Cuba pursued and detained an alleged chain-snatching thief in September 2025, and in August of that same year, residents of the Santa Bárbara neighborhood overpowered and restrained an alleged criminal armed with knives.
The police are facing widespread criticism for their inaction regarding common crime. It is estimated that 20% of their personnel left the force in the past year, leaving entire areas without security coverage.
On April 4th, a family in Santiago de Cuba waited over 10 hours without a police response after experiencing a robbery, under the pretext of a "shift change."
Meanwhile, the institution deploys abundant patrols to suppress political dissent. "There’s fuel for repression," questions the citizens.
The data supports the citizens' perception.
According to the Cuban Observatory of Citizen Audit (OCAC), there were 2,833 verified crimes on the Island in 2025, an increase of 115% compared to 2024 and 337% from 2023, averaging seven to eight crimes per day. Theft led the statistics with 1,536 cases in 2025, marking a 479% rise since 2023.
These figures directly contradict the statements of Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz, who in July 2025 claimed that there was a "downward trend" in crime.
The Cuban economy, which contracted by 5% in 2025 and has accumulated a 15% decline since 2020, is driving poverty and fueling crime, a direct consequence of 67 years of communist dictatorship that has destroyed the productive and social fabric of the country.
While the regime downplays the figures and the Police boast on social media about solving specific cases, it is the citizens who take on the risk of confronting criminals in the street, empty-handed and with no support other than their own determination.
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