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Crime Rate in Cuba
Crime Rate In Cuba“
One of the Lowest Crime Rates in Latin America“
Stephanie Reich“
John Jay College “
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Crime Rate in Cuba
“
Abstract
A recent trip to Cuba sparked me to look further into the crime rate. Upon observation, many of
the people looked to be severely underweight, malnourished, etc. Poverty was prevalent. I
learned in previous classes that poverty is the main cause of crime and in a country as poor as
Cuba, surely crime has to exist. However, I saw young children walking around unattended,
which would rarely or never be seen in places like the United States (US) or the United Kingdom
(UK), and tourists walking around freely, even in places deep in the neighborhoods of Havana. In
addition to this, I did not witness crimes occurring, even in Old Havana, where tourists were
heavily present and there was plenty opportunity to commit crimes such as pick pocketing,
among other crimes. I also noticed a heavy police presence. Was this the reason for Cuba’s low
crime rate? Upon looking into this, I found that very little research regarding Cuba’s crime rate
exists. Cuba does not make its crime statistics public. Even if it did, it seems apparent that Cuban
citizens report very little crime to police and that serious crimes such as homicide, that could
paint Cuba poorly in the public eye, is kept a secret. This paper explores the different parts of the
Cuban Criminal Justice System and how it could contribute to their low crime rate.
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Crime Rate in Cuba
Crime Rate in Cuba: “
One of the Lowest Crime Rates in Latin America“
Cuba, is a communist country located in the Caribbean and has the third lowest crime rate in
the western hemisphere (“Cuba: Police state or tourist haven? Depends who you talk to”,
2015). Cuba was not always communist though. It began using the inquisitorial system of
justice in the 1400’s when it was a Spanish colony. After the Spanish-American war in the
1800’s, when Cuba became a US territory, they then adopted elements of Anglo-American law.
It was not until the late 1900’s when Cuba started using the socialist system of government,
which was guided by Marxist-Leninist Theory (Michalowski 1997). “
According to Michalowski (1997),There are three main branches of police in Cuba. The first
one is the Ministry of the Interior (MINIT). They are responsible for maintaining security,
technical operations, as well as internal order and crime prevention. The second one is the
