A relative of David Enrique Perdomo Álvarez, an employee of the Electric Company of Santiago de Cuba who lost his right hand due to a knife attack, publicly denounced the bureaucratic obstacles this man faces in collecting the 113,458.96 Cuban pesos that have been legally recognized as compensation.
The complaint was published this Friday by independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada through his Facebook profile, who noted that the family member of the affected individual requested to keep their identity confidential.
The origins of it all date back to the attack suffered by David Enrique in January 2024, when members of the gang known as Banda 59 assaulted him with knives in the Abel Santamaría neighborhood, commonly referred to as El Sala'o, in Santiago de Cuba.
More than five young people attacked him around 5:40 in the morning, stole his wallet, and caused the amputation of his right hand, in addition to injuries to his collarbone.
Following the judicial process, Case No. 108 of 2025 from the Provincial People's Court of Santiago included five defendants for whom sentences ranging from 11 to 22 years of imprisonment were requested for various crimes related to the assault.
Now, more than two years after the attack, the relative reported that David Enrique went to the court, obtained the necessary documentation, and appeared before the Compensation Fund of the Ministry of Justice.
There, they handed him a new document and instructed him to get in touch in three months to find out about the payment possibilities.
The presentation record, dated September 28, 2026, acknowledges the amount of 113,458.96 Cuban pesos as compensation, although subject to a 10% discount as per Article 24.1 of Decree Law 86/24 of the Compensation Fund.
The document also warns that if the transfer is not collected within 180 days, the right is forfeited and the amount will be transferred to the funds of the Caja, according to Article 27 of the same decree law.
The crux of the problem lies in Article 6 of Decree Law 1258.51, which states that "the amounts related to civil liability may be collected by the victim when the sanctioned party makes the payment of the incurred debt, either in full or in part."
In practice, this means that David Enrique cannot receive his compensation until his aggressors pay, which entirely depends on the willingness or financial capacity of the convicted individuals.
Meanwhile, David Enrique continues to work at the Electric Company as an electrical guard technician at UEB Redes Santiago, fulfilling shifts and night duties despite the permanent physical limitation of having lost his right hand, the source specified.
His case is not the only one that reflects the institutional abandonment towards workers in the electrical sector who have been seriously injured. Osmani Hernández, a former lineman from Havana who lost both arms in September 2025, reported that the company failed to fulfill its promises of support nearly a year after the accident.
When asked how David Enrique's life has been since the attack, his family member shared the affected person's own words: "Awful. At the moment, everyone lends a hand and shows concern, but as time goes by, the only one who remembers that I had a hand is me."
The unanswered question is how much longer a worker who lost a limb will have to wait to receive compensation that has already been recognized by the courts, and whether the aggressors will ever pay the debt that is necessary for that payment to be made.
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