- Shock in a village in Villa Clara due to a mistake by a command of ’black berets’
- Officers raided several homes in search of a cattle thief
14ymedio, Yankiel Gutiérrez Faife, Camajuaní (Villa Clara), 18 September 2024 — Vicente Florit Viñales, 47, is still in a state of shock after the violent raid on his farm in San Benigno, in Villa Clara. The farmer was involved in a colossal police error, when several agents, believing that they had just caught a cattle thief, aggressively immobilized him on the floor until the head of the sector, present at the time, shouted: “He’s not the guy!”
The events occurred during the early hours of September 11, when more than 40 armed men, including members of the Special Brigade of the Ministry of the Interior – the “Black Berets” – with the head of the sector of the area in command, surrounded Vicente’s house and invaded it without prior warning.
“Everyone get out of the house, we have you surrounded,” a voice burst out around 3:00 in the morning in that peaceful village in the municipality of Camajuaní, of about 250 inhabitants who live from agriculture. Less than two minutes passed, but the impatience of the black berets overtook Vicente, who was heading towards the door at that moment. The agents opened it by force and, without saying a word, immobilized and interrogated him until the sector head spoke up and announced the mistake.
Vicente, without a word, was immobilized and interrogated until the sector head announced the mistake
However, the uniformed men did not give up and continued with their search of the house. Vicente watched stunned as the agents, accustomed to suppressing demonstrations and carrying out command actions against armed criminals, continued breaking things, including door and window handles. They stopped when a mysterious man with a long beard and crucifix-shaped earrings, about 35 years old, appeared. Faced with the farmer’s bewilderment, the agents withdrew without offering any explanation, or apologizing for the violent nocturnal intrusion and the mistake.
The police operation aimed to arrest a well-known criminal in the area, nicknamed “Machetic