Youth gangs quietly gaining ground in Cuba
The June 2024 brawl in Havana was only a warning. Youth gangs are growing through drugs and blood oaths. Is Cuba heading toward collapse?
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Crisis and drugs fuel the quiet spread of youth gangs in Cuba
After the multiple gang brawl at the Finca de los Monos in June 2024, the phenomenon of youth gangs in Havana seemed to fade among other news stories. But the reality is that the problem has only gotten worse. Amid the systemic crisis the country is going through, these groups are growing silently, adopting incivil gang structures with blood oaths, identification tattoos and territorial control.
What do they do and how do they operate?
Far from limiting themselves to petty theft, the gangs have diversified their sources of income. According to various sources, they deal in homemade drugs, commit small thefts and provide protection to merchants in exchange for a cut. The power vacuum in the neighborhoods and extreme poverty act as a breeding ground. It is not unusual for some to compare the situation with Haiti's, although the structural differences are notable.
The specter of Haiti and the Spanish route
The parallel with Haiti comes up again and again in analysis. Both countries share extreme poverty, a power vacuum and a mostly African-descended population. However, Cuba has an escape valve: the "great-grandchildren law" (a Spanish law granting Spanish citizenship to descendants of Spaniards), which allows descendants of Spaniards to obtain a Spanish ID. This could curb an escalation of violence by offering a migration route to many young people, though it also means a brain drain and loss of labor.
The dilemma is clear: while the gangs become more professional and extend their control, the state fails to contain them. The economic crisis keeps deepening and homemade drugs are flooding the neighborhoods. Is Cuba heading toward a collapse scenario like Haiti's? For now, emigration to Spain acts as a buffer, but nobody knows how long the containment cell will hold.
Related discussions in the forum
After the multiple gang brawl at the Finca de los Monos in June 2024, the phenomenon of youth gangs in Havana seemed to fade among other news stories. But the reality is that the problem has only gotten worse. Amid the systemic crisis the country is going through, these groups are growing silently, adopting incivil gang structures with blood oaths, identification tattoos and territorial control.
What do they do and how do they operate?
Far from limiting themselves to petty theft, the gangs have diversified their sources of income. According to various sources, they deal in homemade drugs, commit small thefts and provide protection to merchants in exchange for a cut. The power vacuum in the neighborhoods and extreme poverty act as a breeding ground. It is not unusual for some to compare the situation with Haiti's, although the structural differences are notable.
The specter of Haiti and the Spanish route
The parallel with Haiti comes up again and again in analysis. Both countries share extreme poverty, a power vacuum and a mostly African-descended population. However, Cuba has an escape valve: the "great-grandchildren law" (a Spanish law granting Spanish citizenship to descendants of Spaniards), which allows descendants of Spaniards to obtain a Spanish ID. This could curb an escalation of violence by offering a migration route to many young people, though it also means a brain drain and loss of labor.
The dilemma is clear: while the gangs become more professional and extend their control, the state fails to contain them. The economic crisis keeps deepening and homemade drugs are flooding the neighborhoods. Is Cuba heading toward a collapse scenario like Haiti's? For now, emigration to Spain acts as a buffer, but nobody knows how long the containment cell will hold.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (17 replies).
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