Thieves Remove Entire Window to Break In; Victim Jokes: "Hardworking Individuals"

In a humorous and ironic Facebook post, a woman from Matanzas, Cuba, revealed that intruders dismantled her home's entire three-panel window at 3:00 a.m. on a Saturday in an attempt to burglarize her property. Her story highlights the island's growing security concerns.

Opening with a sarcastic remark, the author wrote: "Offering a disassembly and demolition brigade, it's not a typo, it's a lack of peace and public safety."

The culprits initially broke two slats of the window before removing the entire structure, taking one slat as a "souvenir."

When their entry was thwarted, they decided to take down the whole window: "As hardworking, dedicated individuals committed to their task, they chose to remove it completely," she noted with irony.

Fortunately, no one was sleeping in the room at the time, a fact the author acknowledged as a relief: "Luckily, no one was in that room, otherwise, I'd be mourning another unresolved crime."

The post elicited numerous comments of support and outrage from her followers.

One commenter remarked: "Things are tough, and they're only getting worse. Thank God it didn't become a bigger issue."

Another highlighted the perceived impunity: "Let's see if they actually find who did it. I doubt it. I was robbed three months ago, and still nothing."

Several users wished the family's dog had been inside the house: "I wish they'd broken in and the dog had caught them; you'd hear the screams," one said. Another added: "Let the dog loose inside to deal with anyone who breaks in."

One comment succinctly captured the prevailing sentiment: "My God, and no one sees anything."

The Rising Tide of Crime in Cuba

This incident is part of a broader trend of increasing crime in Cuba, documented by the Cuban Citizen Audit Observatory (OCAC), which recorded 2,833 verified crimes in 2025. This marks a 115% increase from 2024 and a 337% rise compared to 2023.

The most common crime was theft, with 1,536 cases in 2025, representing a 479% increase since 2023.

In 2025, Matanzas was the hardest-hit province, with 503 verified crimes and 143 thefts in just the first half of the year.

Earlier this year, an 87-year-old man in Matanzas was robbed while sleeping, and in June, a 60-year-old woman from Santiago reported eight years of continuous thefts at her home, the latest occurring through her kitchen window.

Cuban academic Julio César González Pagés warned, "Seniors are now the main targets for thefts and assaults," after he himself was almost robbed in Havana.

Faced with widespread perceptions of police inaction, Cubans increasingly use social media to report burglaries, employing humor and irony as a form of protest, as one commenter summarized: "This country is full of those thieves."