At least two individuals were arrested as suspects involved in the theft of ten photovoltaic panels from a farmer in the municipality of Niceto Pérez, province of Guantánamo, according to a report on Facebook by the profile «Guantánamo y su Verdad», a government-affiliated channel linked to the MININT that regularly disseminates information about police operations in the province.
According to that source, the stolen equipment was intended to optimize the irrigation system in areas dedicated to animal feed production, associated with the company Iván Rodríguez in that region.
Thanks to the contributions of community members, the authorities were able to locate and recover nine out of ten panels; one remains unrecovered at the time of the report.
The official profile stated that "investigations continue to fully clarify what happened and determine the corresponding responsibilities," without naming the individuals allegedly involved or specifying the exact date of the theft or the arrests.
The images published alongside the report show two agents from the National Revolutionary Police next to the recovered panels, the empty metal support structure at the site of the theft, and a man with his hands handcuffed next to a uniformed officer.
All criminal responsibility should be considered presumed: no court has issued a conviction, and the investigations are still ongoing.
The case is part of a wave of thefts of photovoltaic panels that is sweeping through Cuba in 2026, driven by the energy crisis that is causing power outages of more than twenty hours a day in some provinces, which has increased the value of this equipment in the informal market.
In Guantánamo, crime against rural properties has been particularly active this year.
At the beginning of September, 13 people were arrested for violent attacks and thefts on farms in several municipalities of the province.
In June, eight young individuals were arrested for stealing solar lamps from public lighting, with over twenty units recovered.
The same municipality of Niceto Pérez was the scene, in mid-September, of the dismantling of a banking fraud network that operated between Holguín and Guantánamo, with nearly 400,000 pesos recovered and returned to their owners.
The pattern repeats in other provinces: in Santiago de Cuba, two panels from the photovoltaic system of an ETECSA office were stolen in the early morning, leaving nearly 900 users without energy backup; in Jovellanos, Matanzas, a man was arrested for stealing the solar panel from the roof of a house.
The legal framework for these crimes was tightened in May 2025 with Opinion 475 from the People's Supreme Tribunal, which classifies the theft of components from solar installations as sabotage under Article 125 of the Penal Code, with penalties ranging from seven to 30 years, life imprisonment, or the death penalty in the most serious cases.
Despite this legislation, the Cuban authorities admitted to over 460 criminal investigations for offenses against the electrical system between 2025 and the first half of 2026, indicating that harsh penalties have not succeeded in reversing the trend.
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