An opinion article published this Sunday in the newspaper Girón, the official publication of the province of Matanzas, openly acknowledges that minors are engaging in acts of vandalism and theft in the area, a phenomenon that the Cuban state media tends to downplay or ignore.
The journalist Jessica Acevedo Alfonso describes events that occurred near her own home: broken and stolen water pipes at a community service institution, and other "similar misdeeds" that compromise the functioning of the place. According to the author, local residents confirm that the neighborhood has also been targeted by the same offenders.
The characteristic that distinguishes these offenders is precisely their age. "The vandals do not exceed the age of majority," writes Acevedo, adding that "with their small bodies, apparent innocence, and the freshness that childhood entails, they often go unnoticed."
The journalist warns that these behaviors go far beyond typical childhood mischief. "These are not the usual antics of childhood, as one might think. They are serious actions that could ultimately be classified by law as crimes," she states, adding that if not corrected in time, they escalate into more violent behaviors.
Acevedo mentions having encountered more severe cases involving minors, including mobile phone thefts and fights. This phenomenon is neither new nor unique to Matanzas: in November 2024, neighbors in Santiago de Cuba captured two children who were attempting to break into an apartment.
The author attributes part of the problem to the crisis that exhausts Cuban parents, who are forced to devote all their energy to obtaining the most basic necessities. “The harshness of these times and the turmoil with which most parents navigate day to day, focused on securing the essentials to provide a meal for our children, or to buy a backpack, shoes, snacks, preserve food, light the charcoal, or fetch water, cannot be factors that prevent us from detaching ourselves from other issues that are also important in their lives,” she writes.
However, the text does not question the structural causes of this crisis or the regime's responsibility. Instead, it distributes the responsibility among parents, schools, institutions, and the community, citing the Family Code (Law 156/2022) to highlight the obligation to educate "through positive, participatory, and violence-free parenting methods."
The statistical context exacerbates the situation described by Acevedo. Matanzas topped the national record for thefts in the first half of 2026 with 155 cases, already surpassing the 143 recorded throughout 2025, according to the Cuban Citizens' Audit Observatory (OCAC). The province also accumulated 503 verified crimes in 2025, the highest provincial figure in the country. Nationally, the OCAC reported 2,833 crimes in Cuba during 2025, an increase of 115% compared to 2024.
The Cuban Observatory of Conflicts also documented 71 reports of child labor and begging on the island in 2025, reflecting how far the crisis drives children into the streets and, in the most severe cases, into crime.
Acevedo concludes his column with a warning that, coming from a state media outlet, is striking for its frankness: "The loss of ethical values and the disregard for good customs, resulting from the social crisis that the Island has been experiencing for years, cannot serve as an excuse for turning a blind eye or justifying wrongdoing. If today we are complicit in these behaviors, we will be jeopardizing not only the stability of the home tomorrow but also that of the larger house which is society."
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