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A mother identified as Dayanita de Cienfuegos reported in the Facebook group "El Mercadito en Cienfuegos" the theft of her two-year-old son's bicycle, which occurred on the night of last Wednesday, and the police's inaction despite having filed a formal report days earlier.
"I am making this post because I have no other option but to turn to social media, as the police have not come to my house since I filed the report on Friday at 3 PM," wrote the woman, who turned to Facebook as a last resort due to the lack of institutional response.
According to the report, someone entered the hallway of their home and took the child's bicycle.
"On Wednesday night, someone stole my two-year-old son's bicycle from the hallway of our house," he described.
The mother provides a detailed description of the item to aid in its identification: one of the side wheels is the one shown in the published photo, the other has a round shape with a blue background, and the saddle has a torn covering at the back.
Convinced that the bicycle has already been resold, she made a call to anyone who may have acquired it in good faith: "If you have already bought this bicycle, please get in touch with me. You can be sure that I will refund every cent you paid for it, and you won't get involved in any issues with the police, as I’ve mentioned before—they haven't even bothered to come to my house."
Anyone with information can contact her at the number 58468330 or send her a private message on social media.
The tone of the post combines the desperation of a mother—“today, a child who knows nothing of evil is asking about his little bicycle”—with a direct message to the culprit: “To the heartless thief who dared to enter our hallway and chose to take one of our child's belongings, know that you made a serious mistake and that nothing is hidden between heaven and earth.”
The case reflects a recurring pattern in Cienfuegos and throughout Cuba: in the face of slow or absent police response, citizens are turning Facebook into their primary tool for reporting issues.
On May 18, the owner of a private jewelry store in Cienfuegos reported on social media the theft of his business, and in April, neighbors in the La Gloria neighborhood captured an alleged thief and turned him over to the police due to a lack of patrolling.
Analysts indicate that the Cuban police allocate more resources to political control and the repression of dissent than to combating common crime, which exacerbates the perception of citizen abandonment.
A family in Santiago de Cuba waited more than ten hours without a response after reporting a robbery; the police attributed the delay to a shift change.
In March, a Cuban from Batabanó reported the burglary of her home while her son was sleeping inside and stated that she didn't even attempt to call the police because the number was unavailable.
According to the Cuban Observatory of Citizen Audit (OCAC), Cuba recorded 2,833 verified crimes in 2025, representing a 115% increase compared to 2024 and a 337% increase compared to 2023, with theft being the most common crime, totaling 1,536 cases — a rise of 479% since 2023.
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