Supreme Court upholds sabotage sentences in Cotorro transformer-oil case
The defense appealed the convictions, which carry prison terms ranging from 15 to 20 years, but the country's highest court rejected the cassation appeal.
Cuba's Supreme People's Court rejected a cassation appeal filed by the defense and upheld the convictions of four men for removing dielectric oil in Cotorro, Havana. The Office of the Attorney General reported the sabotage sentences, which stem from an incident at the substation supplying electricity to the Havana Dairy Complex. The proceeding was identified as case No. 7 of 2026.
The Havana Provincial Court set the prison terms individually: 15 years for Noerlis Aguero Aguirre and 16 years for Yoel Noel Ortiz Fontes. The court sentenced Andy Travieso Salazar to 18 years and Ramon David Cruz Grajales to 20 years. Additional measures ordered by the court include confiscation of property, loss of public rights and a prohibition on leaving the country.
The chamber that hears crimes against State Security applied the offense of sabotage rather than theft, relying on Opinion 475/2025. Under that guidance, in effect since May 2025, the Supreme Court indicated that acts harmful to the National Electric Power System should be classified as sabotage. Although the defendants had no criminal records, the court gave greater weight to the social harm when determining the sentences.
The incident behind the case occurred on the night of July 14, 2025. According to the account presented by prosecutors, those involved brought seven containers, each holding between 20 and 25 liters, to remove oil from the transformer. Yaima, an employee of the complex, identified one of the men as an internal security guard and explained that he was assigned that day to watch the dairy facility's ranchon. She also said the others lived near the site.
According to the prosecution's account, the guard directed the group's actions while two participants watched the surrounding area. Another entered the substation and used a wrench on the transformer's plug to drain the liquid. Security guards interrupted the attempt: the men fled and left behind containers holding 140 liters of oil. The guard later returned to negotiate the recovery of the containers and was identified.
The removal forced the complex's plants and Coralac, a joint venture located within the same grounds, to halt operations for one day. The shutdown was necessary to replace the contaminated oil. The judge explained that disrupting the electrical operation of a plant justified applying the offense of sabotage because the facility performs an activity considered essential to the country.