Three Years Without Justice for Cuban Fisherman’s Murder

In the San Agustín neighborhood of La Lisa, Havana, "there are people who know who killed Maykel Sablón Bisec (Havana, December 4, 1994)." Understandably, they are afraid to speak out for fear of reprisals. There have been "hints," but "nobody wants to talk. They are scared." The young man went fishing alone three years ago and was found strangled and decomposed in a river he frequented with "the neighborhood kids" every two or three weeks. The fishing rods were never found. "The only thing that surfaced was the fishing nylon used to strangle him. It was tangled around his neck and one hand."

However, the Technical Investigations Department (DTI) in Saravia, Cerro (Havana), has not identified the perpetrators of the crime in all this time. The case has been passed from one officer to another without resolution. The first officer retired, the second fell ill, and the third, a "young guy named José Manuel, who is the chief," seems uninterested. Without any arrests, there has been no trial.

The Aftermath for the Family

The victim's two young children received financial assistance from the state following their father's murder, "which wasn't even enough for milk." After six months, the assistance was discontinued. Sablón Bisec never met his daughter. When he was killed, he was the father of a four-year-old boy, and his wife was a few months pregnant.

On the day he was murdered, September 12, 2021, Sablón Bisec did nothing out of the ordinary except go fishing alone, which was unusual for him. Typically, he went with "the neighborhood kids" at night and returned home around nine or ten in the morning. "That day, he went alone." When he didn't return at his usual time, his family grew alarmed and filed a report with the police. They started searching for him on their own because the PNR (National Revolutionary Police) didn't take action until 72 hours later. "He had been strangled with fishing nylon and then thrown into the river. They found him four days later, already decomposed," recounts someone close to the deceased.

Sablón Bisec's body was taken from the river to Forensic Medicine, then to the morgue, and finally buried. "We couldn't even hold a wake," laments the same source, criticizing the DTI's lack of interest in the case. "In reality, they don't want to work," they say, noting that the investigators haven't considered the information provided by the family.

For instance, a neighborhood comment suggested that "those who killed him are still here." This information led the family to understand that there were three murderers, not just one. Despite providing this information to the DTI, the investigators did nothing with it; they filed it away, where it remains untouched.

On the second day of his disappearance, Sablón Bisec was searched for in the Jaimanitas area, about three or four kilometers from where the murder occurred. Those searching showed photos to a neighbor who said he hadn't seen him but mentioned that around nine the previous night, three young men passed by. One of them, "a dark-skinned guy," asked how to get to San Agustín, saying they were from 25. They inquired about the same neighborhood where Maykel lived.

The family reported this to the police, but the investigators didn't bother to follow up or show photos to the neighbor to identify the person who asked how to get to San Agustín. "They haven't done anything. They don't want to work," insist the same sources.

To this day, the motives behind why these three alleged killers murdered Blasón Bisec remain unknown. "That's what we don't know. There are reports that around five in the afternoon, he was seen walking with someone." The young man's circle believes this person was not a friend but rather an "acquaintance." This person told the police that he left Maykel fishing at the spot where he was supposedly killed and then went home.

"The police detained and interrogated him; he admitted they were together, but there is no evidence," adds someone close to the young man, who still doesn't know who this person is.

Despite the DTI's disinterest, the young man's family has complained to Citizen Services but has not succeeded in advancing the investigation. Three years later, no justice has been served, and this impunity, according to the think tank CubaSiglo XXI, is behind the significant increase in violence on the island.

According to the Cuban Citizen Audit Observatory (OCAC), between January and June 2024, a total of 432 crimes were recorded, averaging 2.37 crimes per day, marking a 152% increase compared to the same period in 2023 (1.82 crimes daily in 2023). The analysis shows a "worrying increase" in violent crimes in the first half of this year, highlighting a 111% rise in murders, a 290% increase in assaults, and a 208% surge in robberies in the first half of 2024.