Manuel Marrero Urges "Self-Control" as Over 7,000 Crimes Detected in State Apparatus in 2024

Amidst a severe economic crisis and with public services teetering on the brink of collapse, Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz has once again called for internal discipline as a remedy to curb the surge of crimes and irregularities within the state apparatus. During a recent meeting of the Crime Prevention and Enforcement Department of the Council of Ministers, Marrero emphasized the need to "increase the demands on managers" and strengthen the "culture of self-control" in both business and budgetary entities. He acknowledged a startling statistic: over 7,700 violations were uncovered during control actions across the country in 2024.

The meeting, which also included Vice President Salvador Valdés Mesa, revolved around an uncomfortable truth: that lack of control, organizational negligence, and internal complicity are key factors in most detected crimes. According to Darío Delgado Cura, head of the aforementioned department, 56% of violations were linked to internal management failures, meaning issues in the organization, direction, and supervision of entities.

Delgado Cura admitted, "Often, crimes are committed because insiders collude with outsiders, or because the system has vulnerabilities that are exploited." This admission casts doubt on the effectiveness of the much-touted revolutionary control. The head of government insisted that organizations need to design security and protection plans "commensurate with the times we are living in," referencing the nation’s critical situation. However, the call for more controls and plans stands in stark contrast to a system that year after year reveals deep structural cracks.

Evaluations revealed a disregard for basic security principles, a breakdown of internal control, and significant failures in the implementation of the Workers' Guard. All of this unfolds in a context where scarcity and social unrest make state resources increasingly vulnerable. During the meeting, representatives from the Ministry of Energy and Mines presented alarming figures about the rise of extraordinary incidents linked to fuel theft, particularly in Cimex service stations and Cupet liquefied gas cylinder sales points.

The illegal sale of these resources—becoming increasingly scarce for the population—has turned into a thriving business under the complicit or indifferent gaze of those who should prevent it. Marrero acknowledged the need for "more rigor and systematization" to detect these violations and reduce vulnerabilities in control systems, although there was no mention of sanctioned individuals, concrete measures, or effective prevention results.

While top leaders insist on the necessity of "self-control," "demand," and "awareness," crimes and losses of state resources continue to accumulate without addressing the structural causes of the problem: miserable wages, lack of incentives, institutionalized corruption, and a system that rewards obedience over efficiency. The official narrative remains. Managers should be more demanding, workers more aware, and the people's resources must be protected. But in a country where there is increasingly less to protect and more to survive, the culture of control seems more symbolic than a real solution.