The Provincial Defense Council of Matanzas met this Friday to assess the territorial defense plans and analyze the increasing number of crimes against the National Electric System (SEN), as reported by Periódico Girón on its Facebook account.
During the meeting, which included officials from the Electric Company and other related entities, the thefts of metal angles, dielectric oil, electrical conductors, and solar panels were identified at various locations in the province.
The municipalities with the highest incidence are Cárdenas, Jovellanos, Jagüey Grande, and Colón, as was reported in the session.
Sources from the Ministry of the Interior confirmed that several criminal networks related to these events have already been identified, and that several individuals involved are being judicially prosecuted.
The Matanzas Defense Council emphasized the need to identify and eliminate existing vulnerabilities, strengthen surveillance in areas where electrical substations are located, and require entities to protect their resources. This represents a coordinated institutional response among MININT, the Electric Company, and local defense bodies.
The impact of these thefts goes beyond material damage: according to Periódico Girón itself, “they cause serious economic, material, and social harm that destabilizes the electricity supply in entire communities, in a complex context in this regard.”
Matanzas is, in fact, the most affected province in the country by this type of crime. By the end of August, there were 175 incidents of dielectric oil theft reported in the province — compared to 136 throughout all of 2025 — out of a national total of 479 cases.
During that period, more than 55,950 liters of dielectric oil were stolen, 91 transformers were damaged, and 43 out of the 98 substations in the province were affected, with 12 still out of service.
The consequences for the population are devastating. A robbery in Jagüey Grande left 4,429 homes and health facilities without electricity. A community in San José de Marcos was without power for more than 30 days after the theft of approximately 1,000 liters of oil.
Cárdenas, for its part, suffered two blows to the electrical system in just eight days in August, with circuit 4427 completely disabled after the total theft of oil from a transformer on Calvo Avenue.
The phenomenon has escalated to the highest levels of the regime. The Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, acknowledged before the National Assembly that the theft of dielectric oil occurs "daily" and that the amount stolen is "almost similar" to what Cuba produces during the same period, with communities that have gone up to 105 days without electricity.
The Attorney General's Office reported over 460 criminal investigations between 2025 and the first half of 2026 for crimes against the SEN, more than 300 of which were for the theft of dielectric oil, detected in 97 municipalities across the country.
Despite the tightening of the legal framework—Decree 475 from the People's Supreme Court, in effect since May 2025, allows these thefts to be classified as sabotage, with penalties of up to 30 years, life imprisonment, or even the death penalty in aggravated cases—crimes continue unabated.
In Pinar del Río, a man was sentenced to 12 years in prison for stealing screws and accessories from a solar park under the same law.
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