Chicken, corruption and crisis in Cuba: a colossal theft sparks amazement and calls for a “strong hand”

The theft of 133 tons of chicken for the subsidized sale of the interiors of a Cuban state company aroused great citizen amazement, a strong judicial response and the appeal of the Government and the Communist Party to use the “strong hand” against crime.

The balance, according to the official version, is overwhelming: an illicit benefit estimated at $1.35 million8,500 15-kilogram boxes of chicken stolen, firings, dismissals, eight house searches and at least 30 prisoners, who face up to 20 years in prison.

The theft of chicken – the main source of protein in Cuba – This comes in the midst of a severe economic crisis on the islandwhere frequent blackouts and rampant inflation are exacerbated by shortages of basic commodities, including fuel, medicine and food.

The plot, according to state television, was discovered after the last of about five thefts – about 26 tons of chicken in 1,660 boxes – on a date that state news did not specify, but which revealed a complex “modus operandi” that involves many subjects.

According to this reconstruction of facts, the perpetrators of the crime entered the Havana plants of the state company Copmar, dependent on the Ministry of Food Industries, at dawn and With a truck they took away hundreds of boxes of frozen chicken.

The criminals had the support of the company’s staff, who gave them access, and then they developed a system for cloning metal seals of the cold room doors so that the theft was not obvious.

However, Cuban television recognized the failures of controls at different levels because the total stolen is equivalent, according to official estimates, to the quantity of chickens that the state sells at a subsidized price for a month in an “average province”.

Authorities indicated that each box It was resold for 3,800 Cuban pesos ($158 at the official exchange rate, but only $12.50 at the informal exchange rate)., when the average salary is 4,200 pesos. On the black market, this product can fetch much higher prices.

Theft and corruption

Among the 30 defendants -11 in temporary prison- there are “shift leaders, technicians, custodians (guards)” and also people not linked to Copmar, according to state media.

Among the crimes contemplated by the Prosecutor’s Office there are those of “embezzlement, robbery, extortion, failure to comply with the duty to conserve the assets of economic and hospitality entities”, for this reason acts of common crime, but also corruption, are investigated.

Marta María Gonzalez del Sol, prosecutor of the Havana Criminal Prosecutor’s Office, assured this on state television “A severe decision will be sought because the case requires it”. He underlined “the harmfulness”, the gravity of the “damage”, “the historical moment” – in reference to the serious crisis – and “the affected product”, a staple of the Cuban diet.

The political consequences have already occurred: the official media report it dismissal of the general director of Copmar and the “management” of the state enterprise in which it is integrated, the Basic Economic Unit (EPO) Havana.

Ten days ago, the Cuban Minister of Food Industries, Manuel Santiago Sobrino, was fired without revealing the reasons for his departure, beyond speculation due to the collapse of agricultural production and its repercussions on the volume of subsidized products.

The newspaper Grandmotherofficial organ of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC, the only legal one), dedicated an editorial this Monday with an appeal on the cover to the fight against “crime” and “corruption”, in which the reasons for its argument a, but facts similar to those of this robbery have been reported.

“The leadership of the Revolution reiterated the call to close ranks now act with a strong, firm hand, without lukewarm cloths or softnessand in compliance with the law, as has always been done against these criminal demonstrations”, is underlined in the text.