A security guard at a private restaurant in Santiago de Cuba was tragically killed while on duty, marking the second such murder in the city in less than two weeks. The incident took place in the early hours between Saturday and Sunday at Café Continental, located on Gallo Street, near the El Avileño market.
The victim, identified as Rodolfo Despaigne Fines, was 74 years old. According to sources who spoke with independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta, he was a Jehovah's Witness and lived in the Los Olmos neighborhood. "After retiring from 40 years of work as a mechanic in state-run facilities, he found that his pension of 1,600 pesos was insufficient to support his household. Consequently, he returned to state employment until late 2023 when he found this opportunity through friends," Mayeta shared on his Facebook page.
Rodolfo was brutally murdered by a group of young criminals. "In the middle of the night, they struck him with a blunt object on the head, behind the ears, and then suffocated him. Despite his efforts to defend himself, he was overwhelmed by the number of assailants, who entered through a back alley," a family member recounted.
His funeral was scheduled for Monday at 10:30 a.m. He is survived by his son, Ronal Despaigne Cisneros.
Just a week earlier, on Monday, November 11, the body of a security guard from the state agricultural market El Santiaguero was discovered near the Los Ángeles Clinic on Garzón Avenue, opposite the Communist Party headquarters. The area was heavily guarded and cordoned off by military forces.