Holguin/In Holguín, a city increasingly hit by violence, a group of neighbors decided that this Thursday they would not allow a new assault. The scene occurred on the day, around 10:00 in the morning, in the Vista Alegre cast, when a young man was surprised when he tried to steal an electric motorcycle and retained by the community until the arrival of the police.
The victim, a 56 -year -old man who works by transporting passengers in a MotorineHe picked up the young man, who signaled from a corner and asked him to take him near the Alcides Pino area. The journey passed normally until, upon reaching Columbus, the passenger asked him to stop in a alley with a little convincing excuse. The driver, already alerted by the behavior of the young man, decided to remove the key from the vehicle by caution.
The young man, when he was surrounded, changed tactics: he began shouting that he was the victim
The assailant returned and pretended to want to get on the motorcycle again, but in reality he pounced on the man and gave him a blow to his mouth. The driver reacted, trying to defend himself and clinging to the helm. The noise attracted several neighbors who, when witnessing the scene, soon intervened. The young man, seeing himself surrounded, changed tactics: he started shouting that he was the victim. But it was too late. No one believed him.
The true victim was bleeding through the mouth, and her appearance made it clear that she was the driver of the Motorine. In a matter of minutes, the street was filled with curious and mobile phones. Some filmed while others were outraged by remembering recent robberies. There was talk of an assault chain, all with the same modus operandi: A young man who approached motorists in broad daylight and then attacked them to flee with the vehicle.
“Love it, let it go,” you hear in one of the videos
One of those present brought a rope. “Love it, let it go,” you hear in one of the videos. The young man, already cornered against a wall, insulted and threatened. Some wanted to hit him, but an older man got in, asking for a Mable. “Wait for the patrol,” said a lady, while watching the scene from the sidewalk.
After a while, when the police arrived, the young man was taken to the third unit, behind the Lenin Hospital. But what seemed like an isolated incident became a more complex case. In the following minutes, other people began to arrive. Four more victims appeared at the station and identified him without hesitation.
One of them, assaulted last Friday, July 25, was “an older man, about 60 years old, very skinny,” according to a neighbor who offered his testimony to this newspaper. Seeing the young man, the victim immediately knew that he was the same one who had attacked him, hitting him to fracture his jaw. The employer was repeated: the thief acted alone, without visible weapons, but took advantage of the surprise to hit his victims, almost always older men, and flee with his motorinas.
The victim immediately knew that he was the same one who had attacked him, hitting him until his jaw fractured
In recent months, and like other cities of the island, Holguín has been the scene of a worrying increase in violence Urban. Robberies with violence, robberies on public roads, assaults on businesses and street fights have been frequently reported. Neighbors of neighborhoods such as Vista Alegre, Alcides Pino and Pueblo Nuevo frequently narrate similar events. Although there are no official figures published, fear grows to the rhythm of informal complaints and homemade videos that circulate through social networks.
The scarcity of resources, the growing poverty and the lack of effective police presence have been indicated as some of the causes of this deterioration. To this is added a generalized perception of impunity. Many of the criminals are not prosecuted or recover shortly after being released. This distrust of institutions leads to scenes like this Thursday: citizens who decide to intervene on their own in the absence of street security.
The community acted quickly, but also with limits. There was no lynching, but a warning, Holguin is at the limit, and its inhabitants are willing to do what the law does not seem to guarantee them.
