Man Arrested for Throwing Rocks at Bus in Havana

A man was arrested Tuesday afternoon after throwing a rock at a state bus in Havana, breaking the side window of the vehicle, according to the Provincial Transport Company of the capital. The affected bus was number 613 from the El Calvario Terminal, which was targeted while completing its route back to base, the source reported on social media.

Although the state company did not specify, it appears that only the driver was in the vehicle at the time of the incident. The Provincial Transport Company did not identify the arrested individual by name or provide details about the circumstances of the arrest. However, they shared a photo of the alleged perpetrator, noting that he was "carrying a bladed weapon" at the time of the arrest.

"We acknowledge the swift action of the PNR from Capri, who arrived at the scene to detain the individual," added the official source, lamenting that the number of buses affected by "social indiscipline" continues to rise.

"We continue to reject these inappropriate behaviors by unscrupulous individuals that severely impact public transportation," the statement concluded.

In the comments section of the publication, several users criticized this and other similar acts of vandalism that have occurred in recent months, which not only endanger lives but also threaten the already scarce public transportation in the capital. Similar complaints are becoming increasingly frequent, both from public transport drivers and private vehicle operators. For the latter, such acts often reveal the aggressors' intent to rob.

These incidents are common not only in various areas of Havana but also on highways and in other provinces. In this case, several commenters argued that rather than "social indiscipline," such acts should be severely punished and classified as "crimes against state property."

"Make him walk the bus route back and forth every day for a long time so he never forgets how difficult it is to be without transportation"; "Make him pay for the window out of his own pocket"; "Let the full weight of the law fall on this individual," were some of the comments.

Some even dismissed the incident as "nonsense," suggesting that they use the window from one of the many buses that are out of service for other reasons, a comment that was criticized by several users who called for not justifying the unjustifiable or minimizing a vandalistic act.

Recent Incidents and Official Responses

In April, several public transport buses in Havana were vandalized by rock-throwing while on their regular routes. On April 7, a note published by the Provincial Transport Company of Havana reported three rock-throwing incidents on different routes: one on route A27 from the Palatino Terminal, another on A62 from the Guanabo Terminal, and another on Route 55 from the La Lisa Terminal. Previously, on April 2, another bus on route A58 was also attacked with rocks on Prado Street between Genios and Cárcel.

It is important to note that at the beginning of March, Yunier de la Rosa Hernández, the general director of Transport in Havana, described the transportation situation in Havana as "complex" during a balance report from the Ministry of Transport (MITRANS). He detailed that more than half of the total vehicles were out of operation for various reasons. At that time, 252 units were in circulation, and 309 were out of service.

Given these figures, the news of a bus being attacked with rocks in Havana is a cause for outrage, as it exacerbates the already critical public transportation scenario in the capital.