Since 2 December, the National Exercise on Prevention and Confrontation of criminal activities, anti-social behaviour, corruption, illegalities, social indiscipline and other harmful phenomena has been conducted by the Party, the Government and the Ministry of the Interior.

The Minister of Finance and Prices and representatives of MININT, the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic and the People’s Supreme Court spoke about its development and results on Friday at the Round Table.

Speaking on television, Colonel Deniset Gonzalez, head of information and analysis of the National Revolutionary Police (PNR), said that during the national exercise, a group of actions that have been carried out this week are continuity of tasks that have been deployed during previous periods, and which the MININT has been carrying out in territories, popular councils, communities…

«In sectors where we have identified a high incidence of the behaviours described above. Therefore, when the exercise concludes, an important group of these actions will have continuity as part of the work,» he said.

He explained that since the start of the exercise, just over 800 police operations and closures have been carried out. For example, on the main arteries of the city, access roads through checkpoints, on some stretches of roads and the national highway, where illegalities have been identified.

«More than 4,000 preventive and prophylactic actions have been carried out, which have led to the transfer to police stations of more than 3,300 people involved in crimes and illegalities,» said González.

He added that a group of exemplary trials have been developed in all provincial courts. Joint work teams have also been organised with the Prosecutor’s Office, criminal proceedings have been evaluated to speed up the conclusion, and the advisability of carrying out these trials has been assessed.

Another priority task, emphasised the head of information and analysis at the PNR headquarters, is related to the drug issue.

«In this exercise, investigative processes have been completed, persons involved have been arrested, a significant amount of money and goods acquired as a result of these activities have been seized, and a group of synthetic cannabinoids have also been seized. In all these cases those involved are in custody and investigations are continuing in order to expand possible criminal chains, identify modes of operation and cut off supply chains that could continue to affect our society,» he said.

We have reached communities, but above all the focus has been on schools, because of the effects we have had on these segments. The strength of these actions has been the multifactorial approach and the comprehensive approach. During the exercise, we have counted on the participation of Education, Health, the CDR, Inder, the FMC, and the Culture sector…», he said.

Gonzalez said that as part of the training, members of the Mirando al Mar detachments have been prepared.

He added that the continuity of control actions for the use and control of the land and management of the livestock mass allowed the identification of irregularities of owners and holders of large livestock. More than 100 citizens involved in the theft and theft of large livestock have been brought to criminal proceedings, he said.

Regarding price violations, the colonel explained that about 1500 actions have been carried out which have led to the identification of irregularities. Fifty citizens, including workers and owners of non-state entities, have been prosecuted; 15 others have been warned and more than 900 have been fined, she said.

He said that in the state entities visited, 900 non-conformities have been identified, mainly associated with non-compliance with protection systems, non-compliance or abandonment of the workers’ guard. There were also other irregularities of an organisational nature.

In the case of delinquency, actions have been taken to strengthen control over inmates who are released on parole, those who are contracted in brigades, those who are extinguishing their sentences at liberty, and those prosecuted for prioritised offences who are currently at liberty, he pointed out.

Gonzalez stressed that as part of the prevention actions, there have been tours and visits to places where minors and young people have been identified, and some of them have been detected in indiscipline that border at some point with illegal behaviour and crimes, which is being studied by a multifactorial group to evaluate the actions to be taken, both with the legal representatives of these minors as well as with the minors themselves.

«The important thing is that a system of work has been organised that includes actions from the school to the juvenile.

In addition, other actions and events have been developed with managers of economic entities and domestic trade, in particular with managers and staff working in warehouses and gas points, he said.

Another priority, he said, has been aimed at eradicating causes and conditions that lead to traffic accidents. As a result of the actions on the road, more than 5,000 fines have been imposed, and a group of number plates, driving licenses and circulation licenses have been withdrawn.
Prosecutor’s Office: We must give a forceful response to corruption, crime and criminals.

For his part, the Deputy Attorney General of the Republic of Cuba, Marcos Caraballo de la Rosa, stressed that the current exercise made it possible to evaluate the cohesion between the different bodies in the fight against crime, social indiscipline and corruption.

«We gave a forceful response to preserve one of the most precious conquests of the Revolution: the tranquillity of the citizenry».

He recalled that the fundamental task of the Prosecutor’s Office, established in the Constitution of the Republic, is to exercise control over criminal investigation, as well as to ensure unrestricted compliance with the Constitution, laws and legal provisions by State bodies, entities and citizens.

«Tackling crime and apprehending criminals also means that we must review and control proceedings, impose precautionary measures and ensure that due process is observed during the handling of such cases.

He stressed that the Prosecutor’s Office gives a fundamental role to preventive work, based on raising the legal culture of the people, as well as contributing to the respect of socialist legality. «We also ensure compliance with the rules of social coexistence and respect for the authorities».

Caraballo de la Rosa mentioned that during the year, criminal control was strengthened through the review of more than 1,900 files in the preparatory phase or attestations. «This made it possible to complete a group of files and move on to the next phases of the process.

He reported that 527 preparatory phase files were submitted to the courts to request the opening of the oral trial. «It was verified that the investigative bodies complied with the procedural deadlines and terms, adopting the corresponding pronouncements».

In this period, more than 300 precautionary measures were imposed, 83% of which corresponded to pre-trial detention for crimes that are a priority in everyday life, such as the fight against drugs and corruption. «We must give a forceful response to corruption, crime and criminals, because these are behaviours that directly affect the national security of this country,» he said.

On these issues, he said that several processes associated with serious corruption had been concluded, «which are even controlled by the country’s leadership».

«Four cases were placed in the hands of the courts, in which we are participating in the trials, as usual, so that there will be a criminal response in accordance with their seriousness and the characteristics of the persons involved».

«We are talking about corruption processes where many people are involved, some with criminal chains, including managers, officials, workers and others who agreed to appropriate goods, financial and material resources necessary for the development of the country,» he added.

Another priority has been to tackle crimes affecting the national electricity system. «There have been cases of theft of dielectric oil. Regardless of the fact of appropriation that generates a profit for the perpetrators, we have also indicated to our prosecutors, in accordance with our criminal policy and without violating what is established, to address them as crimes of sabotage».

He clarified that the crime of sabotage is not only committed by those who have the direct intention of causing damage to equipment, but also by those who act in the knowledge of the results that may occur. «Those who do so know that they can not only cause the collapse of that equipment, but also the effects it produces in times of energy contingency for the community».

At another point in the television programme, the deputy attorney general said his agency also ensures compliance with the rules of government projections to correct distortions and reboot the economy. «During the exercise, 303 control actions were carried out as a continuation of tax verification. A total of 236 fines were imposed, amounting to 2,186,041.11 CUP. In addition, 15 obligations to do were imposed (deposit of sales from previous days, withdrawal of the sale of expired products, use of payment gateways, sale of products with violations of established prices, etc.).

At the same time, tax debts of 61,355,033.83 CUP were determined and 3,438,023 pesos in cash were seized and deposited in banks.

In conjunction with MININT and Education, talks were also given in educational centres at all levels on topics such as drugs.

«We will achieve a good exercise if we contain crime and achieve citizen participation. This is not a one-week exercise, but a daily exercise. It is a daily battle that can only be won with the participation of all the people».
People’s Supreme Court: Peacefulness of citizens is essential

Maricela Sosa Ravelo, vice-president of the People’s Supreme Court of Cuba, referred to the holding of exemplary trials throughout the country and also meetings with people who are serving sentences in freedom, either because of some alternatives or because they have been granted an early release benefit.

He commented that within the framework of this national exercise of prevention and confrontation of crime, corruption and illegalities, the Supreme Court, together with the entire court system, has set itself a general and specific objective, aimed fundamentally at having a positive influence on each of these persons and on strict compliance with the Constitution, the laws and judicial decisions.

«The Law of the Courts establishes as a mission, as well as the Constitution of the Republic, that we impart justice on behalf of the people of Cuba», assured the vice-president of the PSC.

She added that «the Law of the Courts also states that it is up to the courts to safeguard the economic, political and social order constituted and established in our Constitution, as well as to watch over citizen security and also the social discipline of each and every Cuban».

Sosa Ravelo said that «it is up to the courts to protect the rights of both natural and legal persons, that is, companies, bodies, organisations and any society or association that is legally recognised in the country».

Likewise, «to prevent infringements, re-establish the rule of law and promote legal culture».

Another objective of the courts is to «contribute to making people aware of their duties, obligations and rights granted by our Constitution, as well as the laws enacted, and to promote respect for social coexistence».

The TSP vice-president commented that «in order to reinforce each of these objectives, our body proposed to carry out a series of actions such as holding exemplary trials».

In this respect, she gave the example of trials carried out for the commission of criminal acts related to drugs in Havana, Camagüey and Pinar del Río.

Likewise, nine trials were carried out for the theft of cattle or livestock or the sale of meat from illegal slaughter in the provinces of Granma, Artemisa, Mayabeque and Santiago de Cuba.

Two other trials were related to administrative corruption and persons tried for the crime of embezzlement in Havana and Matanzas.

Other trials were held in Mayabeque, Villa Clara and Santiago de Cuba for the offences of theft and robbery with force.

Sosa Ravelo reiterated that «citizen tranquillity is essential and, therefore, the acts committed against our agents of the Ministry of the Interior are serious acts». In this context, he said that three exemplary trials were also held in Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo.

«These are some examples of all the actions carried out in the country,» said the Vice President and stressed that «all these trials were carried out with due process, complying with each of the guarantees that are established in articles 94 and 95 of the Constitution and also of our procedural laws».

She explained that the main penalties for these defendants are combined with a set of accessory penalties.

In addition, as part of the courts exercise, 4200 controlled persons were visited to assess their conduct and of these, 209 were identified as being in breach of some of their obligations and 67 were requested to have their sanction revoked. A total of 324 meetings were also held with persons on probation.

«To also contribute to the legal culture of the population, 34 exchanges were held with students of all educational levels, in which educational talks were given on topics such as drug offences, illegal slaughter of livestock, gender violence, among others,» said Sosa Ravelo.

He pointed out that during the period of the exercise, nine persons who were evading justice, who were being located and circulated by the courts, were arrested. In addition, other persons were summoned because they owed fines.

«The courts will continue to be firm against each and every criminal act that affects our population, confronting the most harmful conducts, in order to safeguard citizen tranquillity and social wellbeing,» he concluded.
Finance and Prices: More effective control of violations

For his part, the Minister of Finance and Prices, Vladimir Regueiro Ale, affirmed that «the Ministry, in accordance with its responsibilities, entrusted by the Government in this exercise led by the Party, has had an active participation».

He commented that the issue of price control is a demand of the population, which aspires to improve its purchasing power. «The effectiveness in the control of the violations that are committed in this regard has been one of the fundamental objectives indicated to us in this exercise».

«We have also had to address the issue of collection and management of fines that constitute revenue for municipal budgets,» added the minister, insisting on the need to strengthen the tax culture among the population.

«These are processes of continuity that are being carried out in accordance with the functions of our agency, the National Tax Administration Office (ONAT) and the entire system of finance and pricing that is integrated into our local governments,» he said.

Regueiro Ale reiterated the need to work in a cohesive manner all agencies with common responsibilities in the fight against crime, corruption and illegalities.

He indicated that «as part of the exercise, 508,845 inspections have been carried out to evaluate the issue of prices and a level of non-compliance has been detected that we have not been able to rectify. The main incidences relate to abusive or speculative prices, irregularities in weighing and the concealment of goods. This persists and, for this reason, greater control, greater systematisation and greater confrontation in each of the territories is required».

He added that these irregularities were identified in both state and non-state establishments.

According to the minister, 313,038 fines have been imposed to date, and a total of 814 million pesos have been accumulated, a significant figure.

He emphasised that in preparation for this exercise, training seminars were held for civil servants, but also for the economic and accounting departments of a large group of central government agencies, with the participation of university students.

The minister referred to the updating of Resolution 225 on the regulation of maximum prices for a group of products that are of basic consumption of the population.

«The appreciation that we have in the implementation of this norm in these four and a half months is that a level of stability has been achieved in these prices. We continue to study the costs and the level of presence of these products in the market, depending on the updating of the regulation at the appropriate time and even in view of the possibility of incorporating other products into this regime,» he said.

He commented that another line of action of the Ministry of Finance and Prices has been the management and collection of fines. «Before the beginning of the year, we had accumulated 670 million pesos in fines, a fine that is imposed, which takes 60 days and still has not been paid. The goal, the indicator for this fiscal year was to recover at least ten percent of all those fines that were under constraint. However, the target was below the actual capacities.

In this regard, he added that «the issue of fiscal control is one where we have made progress, we have improved the procedures of the tax administration, which is part of the government’s programme to correct distortions and boost the economy».

«This year, more than 186,445 control actions have been carried out, which has allowed us to determine a debt of more than 4.3 billion and of these, 68%, some 3 billion pesos have already been recovered in favour of the State Budget,» he said.

He added that «in this exercise, more than 6,005 control actions have been carried out, but with a particularity, it has been indicated and progress has been made in a better selection of taxpayers».

He indicated that «so far, 680 businesses have been closed temporarily, until this economic actor rectifies its attitude and is ordered in accordance with what is established. Otherwise, it will be closed permanently».

Also, he added, «more than 216 million debts have been managed and 443 million have been determined».