- Rise in drug trafficking and in criminal armed violence.
Aug. 25.– The Cuban Observatory for Citizen Auditing (OCAC) presented its Public Insecurity Report for January-June 2025, documenting an unprecedented escalation of crime in Cuba, with figures that contradict recent official statements by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz about a supposed “downward trend” in crime. 
According to OCAC monitoring, 1,319 crimes were verified in the first six months of the year, a figure that exceeds the total recorded in 2024 and is five times higher than the data for 2023. This represents an average of 7.3 crimes per day in a context marked by economic and social deterioration.
Rising statistics
Robbery was the most frequent crime, with 721 cases reported, including 193 related to cattle theft and slaughter, a direct expression of the food crisis plaguing the country. The most affected provinces were Matanzas, Las Tunas, and Santiago de Cuba.
There were 63 reported murders, with an average of 10 per month. The victims included 24 women, three minors, and six elderly people, reflecting the breadth of vulnerable sectors affected by violence. The Alas Tensas Gender Observatory documented that 16 of these deaths were femicides.
The OCAC report also recorded 61 assaults and 38 attacks, affecting both men and women, minors, and the elderly. In several cases, firearms were used, evidencing the growing availability of weapons in a country where legal access is extremely restricted.
The rise of drug trafficking
One of the most alarming developments in the report is the inclusion of drug trafficking and consumption as a separate category. For the first time since OCAC began issuing its reports, this phenomenon is being documented systematically ...
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