The Cuban musician Iván Leyva reported another attempt to steal cables from the air conditioning units in his building in Havana this Saturday, and he criticized the fact that the police do not even respond to emergency calls.
In a post on Facebook, Leyva wrote that the thieves attempted again to steal the climate control equipment cables from the property.
"In the early hours of the morning, they tried to steal the air conditioning cables from the building again. And the police? They don’t even bother to answer the call," he reported.
The composer warned that the lack of response from the authorities may drive residents to take matters into their own hands and alerted to a possible fatal outcome for those who attempt to commit the robberies.
"It is more than evident that it is up to us, the citizens, to find a way to protect ourselves in the face of inaction. Logically, this will have negative consequences, but if there is no other option and we are defending ourselves, in the best case scenario, the outcome is fatal for the thieves," he wrote.
To illustrate his warning, he turned to "Fuenteovejuna," the classic work by the Spanish poet and playwright Lope de Vega (1562-1635), in which the inhabitants of a village collectively assume responsibility for the death of a man who had abused his power.
"When the authority asks who did it, the answer is already written: Fuenteovejuna, sir. Who is Fuenteovejuna? The whole town, as one," Leyva added.
This is the musician's second public complaint about the insecurity in his building within 48 hours. On Thursday, he reported another attempt to steal cables while criticizing that the patrol never responded, despite him providing the operator with the exact address of the property.
"I gave the exact address to the operator (whom I almost had to force to respond) and, of course, the patrol never arrived," he wrote then.
In that post, he also questioned the priorities of the Cuban police apparatus and its speed in responding when it comes to monitoring independent journalists and government opponents.
“To monitor independent journalists and government opponents, there are indeed resources and a swift response. They dedicate time and effort to that,” he stated.
The reactions to their complaints reflected similar experiences. One user recounted that there was an attempt to steal the electric meters from their building and that, despite calling the police and the Electric Company, they had to resolve the issue on their own by buying screws and tightening wires.
Another commenter mentioned that thieves stole the gas pipes from a neighbor two blocks away from his home, and that the incident caused an explosion that left the area without supply for half a block. A follower, for her part, recounted that she had seen farmers detain suspected thieves until the police arrived and suggested that neighbors organize similar actions.
On Thursday, the in Matanzas was reported, with no police or representatives from the Transport sector responding. In April, residents of Havana reported theft of circuit breakers from entire buildings during power outages.
In light of the delays or absence of authorities, there have also been cases of citizens capturing and detaining alleged criminals in Camagüey, Santiago de Cuba, Manzanillo, and Guantánamo. In the latter case, a report from Manzanillo stated that after detaining a thief and calling the police, the neighbors were told in response that "they could not do anything."
According to the Cuban Observatory of Citizen Auditing (OCAC), crime increased unprecedentedly in Cuba during 2025, with 2,833 recorded crimes across the island, a rise of 115% compared to 2024 and 337% compared to 2023. The predominant crime was theft, with 1,536 cases.
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