HAVANA.- The Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR) of the dictatorship of Cuba He decreed armed guard and the declaration as military areas of “agricultural production zones, construction and assembly investments, and other urban and rural areas.”
In Resolution 9/2024, published in the Official Gazette number 46 of 2024, and reviewed by the Diario de Cuba web portal, the official body indicated that the measure is enacted to “increase the security and physical protection” of those areas, which would be hereinafter “of interest to defense”.
In one of its provisions, the standard orders “the use of shotgun-type weapons or weapons with pellet ammunition of different calibers for the security and protection of the areas” and provides that “the heads and directors of the entities that administer the areas are responsible for because the personnel who carry out the guard and protection service carry the Second Class license in accordance with the provisions of Decree-Law 262 'On
Weapons and Ammunition', November 12, 2008, Article 61″.
The provision specifies that the chief's order for the Defense Preparation Year will have to include “the numerical list of the weapons to be used and their exploitation authorization.”
Without specifying details about the areas of military interest that will be created, the resolution specifies that the heads and directors of the entities must also guarantee the armed guards and their relief, the delivery and reception of weapons, as well as the military preparation of those who use them. porten.
In addition, these authorities will be responsible for “the rational use of ammunition and the request for replacement of ammunition to the Armament Directorate, in case of depletion.”
The new areas must be correctly identified with signs in Spanish and English with the inscription “DO NOT PASSE MILITARY ZONE”, and access to them by outsiders will be prohibited.
In an accessory provision published in the same issue of the Gazette, Directive 1 of the National Defense Council, it is specified that, apart from the above, modifications will be made to the organizational structures of defense in the provincial and municipal administrations of the People's Power. .
“The heads of Defense directorates in the provincial administrations of People's Power are approved by the Higher Commission of Cadres of the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, with the consent of the president of the corresponding Defense Council, and presented to the governor for appointment. “he specifies.
The above also applies to “the heads of independent Defense departments in the municipal administrations of the People's Power”, who will be approved by “the army cadre commissions, with the consent of the president of the corresponding Defense Council, and presented to the Municipal Administration Council for his appointment.”
From now on, according to the directive, the head of the Defense Directorate in each province will have to “hold the rank of colonel or higher; and have a level of postgraduate military preparation of II or III degree in Command and Operational-Strategic General Staff.” or Operational Tactical, respectively, and specialty or diploma in Defense and National Security.”
Then, to be head of the independent Department of Defense in the municipality, it is required “to be a first officer; to have held command or management positions that allow him to fulfill the powers and obligations of the position; and to have a level of postgraduate military preparation of I degree of general troops or higher”.
Finally, the rest of the positions in these agencies “are completed with qualified personnel to fulfill the obligations and powers that are defined according to the mission and functions of the organizational unit.”
More importantly, “The military personnel designated as heads of directorates or independent departments of Defense in the provincial and municipal administrations of Popular Power are militarily subordinated to the Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces.; they go to special service status; “they maintain the rights and duties that they hold due to their condition and are subject to the movements established in the applicable current legislation.”
MINFAR will provide the necessary assurances to fulfill these functions, the directive says, including “the cell phone and the means of transportation.” This, in charge of the military regions.
“The allocation of resources for the Tanks and Transportation specialty is carried out directly by the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces in a differentiated manner to the military regions, who are responsible for the execution and control of the activity levels related to the budget allocation. , of technical means and the operation and repair of vehicles,” adds the standard.
Although the provisions seem to respond to the regime's need to protect state resources in the face of increased insecurity on the Island, their institutional depth seems to address, instead, a reinforcement of the repressive apparatus in the face of popular demonstrations or protests. , increasingly frequent in Cuba.
