The assailants threatened him with knives and stole his phone, glasses and cap, according to the young man’s mother.
MIAMI, United States. – Yanaisy Curbelo, mother of Brandon David Becerra Curbelo —one of the young people prosecuted for the protests of July 11, 2021 (11J)— reported on Facebook that his son was attacked “one block” from his home by two men armed with knives, who stole his phone, glasses and cap.
In her Facebook post, the woman linked the event to the increase in violence in Cuba – which she attributed to “human misery”, “hunger” and drugs – and assured that the authorities are not arresting those responsible.
Curbelo stated that the attack occurred this Thursday “late at night” and stressed that it was near his house: “No [en] another neighborhood, no [en] another municipality. [A] a block from home.”
According to him, the attackers were “two dark-skinned men” and both were carrying knives: “One put it on his neck and the other on his belly.” Curbelo added that they took “his phone, glasses and cap,” and said that his son was not injured. In that sense he wrote: “Thank God they only threatened him and didn’t hit him. Otherwise, I would have picked him up lying on the corner.”
The woman insisted that the time does not change the risk and framed the assault in a general deterioration in security: “It is not important if it is early, if it is late. The important thing is that the violence in Cuba worsens every day due to the human misery and hunger that is experienced.” He also criticized the lack of police results: “And nothing happens, they don’t catch anyone. And violence grows in Cuba.”
Brandon David Becerra was arrested as a minor after the 9/11 protests. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison.
Curbelo, who has on other occasions denounced harassment and the situation of relatives of 11J prisoners, placed the assault on his son within a broader social alarm.
Independent organizations have documented a sustained increase in crime reports, especially robberies and violent acts, from monitoring based on public complaints and publications on networks. The Cuban Observatory of Citizen Audit (OCAC) reported 1,319 crimes verified between January and June 2025, with 721 robberies, 99 assaults and assaults, 63 murders and 198 reports linked to drug trafficking, in addition to 238 other criminal acts.
By 2024, the OCAC revealed an alarming picture regarding the increase in violence in Cuba. With a total of 1,317 crimes reported throughout that year, there was an increase of 50.72% compared to 2023, when 668 fewer crimes were recorded.
However, “the data presented are only the tip of the iceberg of a much larger and disturbing situation,” the NGO has indicated.
The lack of public and systematic information on crime indicators makes it difficult to accurately contrast the real magnitude of the phenomenon on a national scale. A United Nations data set, based on homicide statistics and mortality data from the Cuban Ministry of Health, register By 2019, there will be a total of 500 victims of intentional homicide in the country, with a rate of 4.46 per 100,000 inhabitants.
