By Lee Williams
SAF Investigative Journalism Project
On January 8, 1959, Fidel Castro made his victorious entry into Havana, which signaled an end to the Cuban revolution. The very next day Castro’s henchmen began seizing personally owned firearms and disarming the entire population, allegedly to prevent a countercoup.
Belgian FNs, American M1 and M2 carbines and a wide variety of submachineguns, shotguns and handguns were all seized from Castro’s forces. The propaganda machine fully supported the weapon seizure. Olive Green, the Cuban Army magazine claimed there was a large number of negligent discharges taking place because the guerillas were carrying their weaponry “as if they were adornments.”
Today, just 90 miles from the Florida Keys, Cuba has some of the strictest gun control laws in the world. Sixty-six years after his revolution, Castro’s henchmen are still disarming the Cuban populace, even though there’s not much left for them to find.
Case in point: Last week Cuban police arrested a man in Havana for what they described as an “arsenal of weapons” in his home, according to one website that covers the country’s legal affairs.
A raid by the Cuban Criminal Investigation and Community Work Forces was carried out Feb. 18 at 6:40 a.m. in the Arroyo Naranjo region of Havana. It was led by a police sector chief.
“The agents discovered a modern pearl shotgun with optical sights, a .22 caliber shotgun, and more than 150 cartridges of various calibers,” the news story states. “Also found were two cartridge belts, one containing 27 bullets and the other 18 shells, in addition to several cases and shotgun wadding.”
One of the photos taken by Cuban police shows how this “arsenal of weapons” was mostly junk, incapable of firing, consisting of an air rifle, pellets and what officials called a “.22 caliber shotgun.” Police also found belts of old shotgun shells and a collection of knives, bayonets and machetes.
Despite the age, lack of ammunition and the poor condition of the alleged weaponry, police were jubilant.
“An entire arsenal hidden in the heart of the neighborhood,” the official stated while suppling photos of the raid, some of which were shared on social media.
The homeowner was arrested and faces “serious charges,” the website claims. That much is true. Violation of Cuban anti-gun laws can lead to years behind bars. Committing a crime with an unlicensed weapon can result in life in prison.
Castro’s paranoia
After his revolution, Castro gave dozens of speeches on the need to relinquish arms.
“I appeal to the public to disarm the ambitious. Why are clandestine arms being stored at this very minute? Why are arms being hidden at distinct points of the capital? Why are arms being smuggled at this moment?” Castro said just days after entering Havana. “I tell you that there are members of certain revolutionary organizations who are smuggling and storing arms. All the arms that were found by the rebel army are stored and locked in barracks, where they belong. What are these arms for? Against whom are they going to be used?”
Several years later, Radio Havana warned all Cuban citizens that they still needed to relinquish their arms.
“All citizens must turn in their combat weapons. Civilians must take arms to police stations, soldiers to military headquarters,” the national radio stated.
Violators, the radio station warned, would not be prosecuted by the criminal court, but by Revolutionary Tribunals, which had already sentenced more than 1,100 Cubans to death since the revolution ended six years earlier.
Castro’s position on civilian firearm ownership had changed 100-percent. Just a few years earlier he had said, “This is how democracy works: it gives rifles to farmers, to students, to women, to Negroes, to the poor, and to every citizen who is ready to defend a just cause.”
His change convinced many Cubans that they needed to flee the island for their freedom.
Castro, who’s personal paranoia has been well documented, did not want anyone other than his most trusted revolutionaries to have access to firearms.
Cuba’s current law
Like the Castro brothers, Cuba’s current ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel is the most powerful man in Cuba. As First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, he is also very anti-gun.
Today, civilians cannot own handguns. Nor is there any way civilians can own any semi-automatic firearm. Civilians cannot carry firearms for self-defense. Personal firearms must be stored securely, and police may inspect them whenever they want. Ammunition remains extremely difficult to find.
As a result, personal firearms in the island nation are almost nonexistent. Guns are very, very rare. Most are owned by members of the military, state security agents or a few credentialed members of hunting clubs or shooting associations. Many of these private clubs have switched to pellet guns since both rimfire and centerfire ammunition is so hard to find.
Most police officers must leave their firearms at their stations when not on duty. Most soldiers receive unloaded AKs for training.
The government has never stopped trying to take away their citizens’ firearms or their firearm rights.
In 2010, the government announced yet another two-month amnesty for unregistered civilian firearms. Those who passed firearms aptitude and psychological testing were allegedly allowed to keep their weapons, the government claimed, but no numbers were ever published. It is not known if anyone was allowed to keep their guns.
Both the Castros and Díaz-Canel maintained an island that’s completely free of anything close to our Second Amendment rights. Any law or rule that would legalize firearms would lead to violence, Cuba’s people mistakenly believe.
Our United States Embassy tells another story and warns of “increased caution in Cuba due to crime.”
“Petty crime, such as pick pocketing, purse snatchings, and car break-ins, is a threat for tourists in Cuba. Also, violent crime, including armed robbery and homicide, sometimes occurs in Cuba,” the U.S. Embassy warns on its website. “Travel outside of the Havana area for U.S. Embassy employees requires a special notification process which may affect the Embassy’s ability to provide emergency assistance to U.S. citizens in Cuba.”
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