CUBA: Anti-Drug Crackdown Uncovers Corruption Cases

By Dalia Acosta Reprint | | Print |

Dalia Acosta

HAVANA, Mar 6 2003 (IPS) - An offensive launched by the Cuban government against drug trafficking and other criminal activities has begun to shed light on what are still isolated cases of corruption among public officials and the police.

Talk about police operations in search of marijuana, cocaine and crack, the confiscation of housing, and arrests of police officers has become a daily feature of life among the residents of Havana since the crackdown began in January.

”They caught ‘La Sombra’ (the Shadow) just when he had gone to tell a trafficker that he was on the list of people whose homes were to be searched,” said a resident of the Old Havana neighbourhood, the beat of the police officer who was known by that nickname.

”No one here knew his name. They called him that because he was always right behind the delinquents – not to trap them, but to get his cut of their profits,” said the woman, who asked not to be identified.

A source close to the government told IPS that several police officers have been taken into custody in the past few weeks. It is an open secret that some police have ties to prostitution, as well as the drug trade and other shady activities.

The source, who preferred to remain anonymous, said some police officers ”turn a blind eye” in exchange for payoffs, which can take the form of cash, material goods, or – in the case of officers from the provinces – a bed in which to spend the night away from their police lodgings.

”Police corruption is still marginal in Cuba, but we must recognise that it exists in order to combat it. Otherwise in a few years we will find ourselves in a similar situation to the one we’re seeing today with cocaine,” said Mario Suárez, a 39-year- old historian.

”Until recently it was said that there were no drugs here,” said Suárez, who defended the government’s recent actions. ”It was denied over and over agan, while sales and consumption grew and grew. We have to be implacable on this issue.”

Although the cases of corruption might look insignificant compared to other countries in Latin America, many Cubans prefer to use their own country’s basically corruption-free society of 20 years ago as a reference point.

One of the first ”sting” operations staged this year in Havana involved a retired military officer who ran a private restaurant, a clandestine hotel, and illegal activities ranging from drug dealing to prostitution, out of his house.

At least one member of the border police posted on Isla de la Juventud, located south of the main island, is reportedly under investigation for allowing drugs to enter the domestic market.

One of the ways in which drugs enter Cuba are through packages of cocaine and marijuana thrown into the sea by drug traffickers heading to the United States. The packages, which were either dumped to avoid capture or were missed in the scheduled pick-up, accidentally drift onto Cuban shores.

The drugs that are found usually end up being incinerated by the police. But in some cases, those who run across the packages do not turn them in, but sell the drugs in exchange for dollars, especially in the main cities.

The state-controlled press rarely mentions such cases, unless authorities decide to use one to set an example. Meanwhile, government officials continue to describe drug dealing and consumption in Cuba as an ”incipient” problem.

Granma, the daily newspaper of the governing Communist Party, recently reported that five foreign nationals – including a woman from Colombia – and three Cubans were sentenced to between 20 years and life in prison as part of the current crackdown on drugs.

It is believed that over half of those involved in the drug trade in Cuba have already been arrested.

At the same time, at least 100 homes have been seized by authorities since the offensive began in mid-January. Members of those households who are not suspected of involvement in the drug trade are taken to government shelters to await the conclusion of the trials.

A government decree issued in February provides for confiscation of all homes or businesses where drugs are ”produced, trafficked, purchased, stored, consumed or hidden.”

Cuba’s deputy attorney-general, Carlos Raúl Concepción, told the press that the measure also applied to cases of corruption, prostitution, procuring, pornography, corruption of minors, or people trafficking.

”There will be no clemency for those who, with no scruples whatsoever for the health and welfare of our children, endeavour to introduce and distribute toxic drugs on Cuban soil,” an article in Granma warned Tuesday.

The newspaper underlined that the ”corresponding measures” would be taken against any ”criminals and their accomplices who resist the actions of authorities.”

Granma said its message was directed to all Cubans, regardless of social status. The paper added that that included members of the military, political leaders, or people with a relative in the government who they believe might intervene to ”save” them from the full weight of the law.

Of the long list of activities targetted by the current offensive against crime, one of the touchiest issues is corruption by public officials, which has grown in recent years as business opportunities with foreign companies have increased.

In 2002, official sources reported that former foreign minister Roberto Robaina ”favoured” foreign companies interested in doing business with Cuba, in exchange for goods and other perks.

The removal of four deputy ministers of economy last week could also be linked to the misuse of state funds, although the move may have come in response to supposed ”errors” in economic policy.

According to sources consulted by IPS, a decision on the future of Economy Minister José Luis Rodríguez is still pending.

But whatever happens, the government may keep silent on the real reasons underlying the dismissals.

A lawyer who said he received ”instructions from up above” to ignore requests for ”soft treatment” of a particular defendant, even if the request were to come from a high-ranking figure, told IPS that ”In the cases we are seeing, there is no lever or influence that can help.”

Under Cuban law, being a public employee or a member of the armed forces or the police is considered an aggravating factor when a suspect is being tried for virtually any criminal offence.