Security and Illegality in Cuba's Transition to Democracy by Vidal Romero;

Author:Vidal Romero;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Published: 2021-06-18T00:00:00+00:00

Theft/Robbery

Even though, there is no recent official data on robbery, petty theft seems to be relatively common in Cuba. The most serious thefts involve burglary (when homes are left alone), and violence related to robbery is rare. Being robbed in the street or on public transport is infrequent for Cuban residents. It is more frequent, however, for tourists. This is significantly different from many Latin American countries, especially in urban areas.

Tourists are a prime target for thieves. It is not uncommon for tourists’ clothes, computers, or cell phones to be stolen from their hotel rooms. Usually, the culprits are a group of hotel employees who collude to steal from guests. The stolen items are either dedicated to personal use or sold on the illicit market.

Another way to rob tourists is through fraud schemes. These take many different forms: by providing CUPs instead of CUCs, selling cigars that contain poor quality tobacco, overcharging on taxis, or deceiving tourists into inferior and overpriced restaurants and bars.

Pickpockets are not frequent, probably because places visited by tourists are closely monitored by the Cuban authorities, and because tourism is a core source of income for the state. Security cameras are installed in most of Havana’s tourist areas, and police are very responsive to tourists.

Note that most, if not all, of these illicit activities against tourists are relatively common in most tourist venues in Latin America, especially in those where the local population needs resources. What may be different in Cuba are the networks of collusion among employees and managers at tourist venues, which makes managers generally unresponsive to tourists’ demands for solving this sort of crime. The main reason is that managers at hotels (even those that are part of international companies, like Barceló or Meliá) are actually state employees who depend on some bureaucratic agency, as opposed to being a management that is responsive to private owners seeking an economic gain. Tourists must then resort to the police, which implies additional time and effort, and many just give up.

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