Related videos:
Seven people were arrested and judicially processed following the dismantling of an illegal cockfighting ring operating near the Arcoiris camping site in Santa Clara, as reported by the Facebook profile "Fuerza Pueblo," associated with the regime's security bodies.
According to the report, the event was held covertly on Wednesdays and was detected by police patrols that apprehended seven individuals identified as promoters of the event at the scene.
The detainees are facing charges for the offense of "Forbidden Gambling," as defined in Article 251 of the Cuban Penal Code, which carries penalties of one to four years of imprisonment for organizers and promoters.
The operation in Santa Clara comes just days after a similar case in Pinar del Río, where the police dismantled an illegal betting ring in the town of Herradura, in the municipality of Consolación del Sur, on June 22.
Both operations were publicized by profiles linked to state security in a moralizing tone, which sparked a wave of citizen criticism on social media regarding police corruption and the regime's double standards.
"Doble standards, they belong to the state-owned company Flora and Fauna, which is nothing more than a profit-making enterprise... We can't touch them," wrote a user in response to the operation in Pinar del Río.
Another internet user was more direct about the real motivations behind the operation in Pinar del Río: "They did that because the owner of the billboard didn't pay the police chief; he didn't fulfill the contract."
The contradiction pointed out by Cubans has a concrete basis: the regime itself legally operates cockfights through ALCONA S.A., a company affiliated with the Flora and Fauna Business Group and linked to the historic commander Guillermo García Frías.
From a farm on the outskirts of Havana, ALCONA raises fine roosters, organizes fighting events, and exports specimens abroad, while the police pursue criminal charges against those who do the same without state authorization.
The Decree-Law 31/2021 on Animal Welfare prohibits inducing confrontations between animals but includes an exception for fights authorized by the competent authority, which in practice creates a state monopoly on the rooster fighting business.
The animal rights organization BAC-Habana reported in November 2025 that rooster fights in Cuba are not clandestine but rather supported by the regime through ALCONA S.A.
Shortly after making that complaint public, the Cuban bank blocked the organization’s account.
“Why don’t they go after the rooster promoter, the one behind the cockfights? Guillermo García,” asked another user on social media, summarizing the widespread sentiment about operations that target ordinary citizens while the State profits from the same activity.
The "Fuerza Pueblo" profile concluded its publication with the announcement that "the police will remain vigilant to detect illegalities and social indiscipline," a warning that Cubans received with skepticism due to the evident contradiction between the official discourse and the reality of the state-run cockfighting business.
Filed under: