14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 17 February 2024 — The Havana Botanical Garden has been hurt by its distant location. In a city where going from one neighborhood to another is already a headache due to the lack of fuel and the poor state of transport, getting from the center to the periphery of the Arroyo Naranjo municipality is an impossible mission if you don’t have your own car, a good amount of money for the trip, or you are able to book a tour with the bus included.
Once the threshold is crossed by paying 30 pesos to the guard, there are other problems: insecurity and crime. The primary victims are the workers, especially those who are involved in the food service. “The vegetarian restaurant El Bambú exists, but it is no longer making that type of food; it has a Creole menu,” says a bored employee sitting under a tree. “It’s not open at the moment because it was robbed.”
The lootings have taken over the Garden at night. “We leave every afternoon just as the thieves are arriving,” says a guard. He complains that the security workers don’t have what they need to prevent the thefts.
“We have weapons but few bullets, and they arrive with machetes, in groups,” he describes. “The other day in El Bambú, which was the last place they assaulted, one of those gangs took a boss, who is very strong, by the way. They beat him, tied him up and put him under a table with several chairs piled on top of him.”
“There were seven with knives and machetes,” he says. The reason for the robberies is “to steal food from the restaurants.” In another restaurant, La Majagua, “they entered days ago and found no food. There was no meat, no rice, no preserves, so they stole the bathroom door.” El Yarey and El Ranchón have also been robbed in the early hours of the morning.
“They emptied the creamery and took everything,” he says. Every attempt by workers to protect the goods has ended in physical aggression or threats. “If you don’t make things easy, we’ll kill you,” was the clear warning that the security guard of El Yarey received when, from the roof of the premises where he watched the area, he spotted the approaching criminals. “They broke the door, and there was n
