A man was arrested after allegedly attacking a 15-year-old teenager with a machete in the neighborhood of El Caney, in the municipality of Bartolomé Masó, Granma province.
The fact was revealed by the official Facebook profile Entérate con Aytana Alama, which reported that the minor sustained two injuries, one to the head and another to the left arm, allegedly caused by an adult who was subsequently arrested.
In a post filled with qualifiers, the profile described the incident as an act of "absolute cowardice" and asserted that "there is no justification, neither logical nor moral, for a man to use a knife against a teenager."
He also praised the actions of the police and stated that "these kinds of violent individuals have no place in our community."
The official statement did not explain what caused the aggression nor disclose the identity of the detainee or the victim.
However, the case sparked an intense reaction on social media, where numerous users condemned the attack and called for a strong punishment for the aggressor.
The post sparked an avalanche of reactions, with the majority of users unreservedly condemning the aggression against the minor.
"Nothing justifies such nonsense where a creature that is just beginning to live nearly dies at the hands of an adult," wrote one of the commentators.
Others were more direct: "That criminal should get 30 years for being an abuser" and "He's a coward. Justice."
Some users even demanded sentences exceeding those provided for in Cuban legislation, with requests for life imprisonment, 50 years in prison, and even the death penalty.
The Cuban Penal Code (Law 151/2022) establishes penalties of 10 to 20 years of imprisonment for serious injuries inflicted with a knife, depending on the circumstances of the case and the consequences for the victim.
Some users requested to know the complete context
Alongside the condemnations, there were also voices calling for more information about the circumstances of the attack before reaching a definitive judgment.
“You don’t explain why he was hurt and judge him as if he had attacked without reason”, questioned a user. Others asked: “And what did the minor do?” and “That story has a lot missing.”
Among the comments, one stood out from a woman who identified herself as the teenager's aunt and provided a version of events that differed from the speculations that began to circulate.
“The teenager is my nephew and the child was playing cards with his friends at a sports club. He was not involved in any altercation,” he wrote, refuting the claims of those who suggested that the attack may have occurred during a confrontation among several individuals.
After the testimony from the family member was made known, solidarity with the victim intensified: "Whatever the minor did does not give anyone, especially not an adult, the right to act in that manner."
The case reignites the debate about violence in Cuba
A third block of comments took advantage of the incident to highlight what many Cubans perceive as a decline in public safety.
"Minors and those up to 20 years old are currently the main actors in thefts, robberies, fights, and serious injuries," wrote a user.
Another added, "Juvenile delinquency in this country is out of control, just like drugs."
This perception is supported by documented figures. The Cuban Citizen Audit Observatory (OCAC) recorded 2,833 verified crimes in 2025, a 115% increase compared to 2024 and a 337% rise compared to 2023.
In June 2026, authorities in Guantánamo arrested 11 members of three youth gangs, mostly young people without job ties, highlighting the growth of these structures in various municipalities across the country.
Granma has reported several recent incidents of violence
The incident that occurred in Bartolomé Masó adds to a series of violent events recorded in the province in recent months.
Among them are a femicide in the same municipality in April 2025, a double femicide in Campechuela in January 2026, and the murder of a man with a machete in Barranca, Bayamo, in June 2026.
Nationwide, there have also been reports of violence involving bladed weapons, such as the confrontation involving young people armed with machetes on the Boulevard of San Rafael in Central Havana, which took place in May 2025 and involved minors.
Independent surveys conducted in 2026 show that 32.2% of Cubans rate public safety as "very poor" and 78% say they feel unsafe.
In this context, psychologist Roxanne Castellanos Cabrera recently warned that Cuba is normalizing aggression as a daily way of managing conflicts, a concern that resurfaced among the comments generated by this new case of violence.
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