Havana: Darkness and robberies frighten visitors to Lennon Park in Havana

Havana/John Lennon Park, in Havana’s Vedado, is no longer that busy place where young people gathered to talk until late into the night. On Sunday, shortly before seven in the afternoon, 14ymedio found only a handful of visitors, mainly older people trying to connect to the Internet. Under the trees, the roads were beginning to become dark.

Located on 17th Street, between 6th and 8th, in El Vedado, the park was for years a meeting point for young people and rock fans, as was also the case on nearby G Street (Avenida de los Presidentes). Now, the endless blackouts, which plunge the place into almost absolute darkness for hours and facilitate the actions of criminals, have turned it into a place that many prefer to avoid.

Last week, the film critic and researcher Luciano Castillo, National Film Award 2026 and director of the Cuban Cinematheque, had his phone stolen in the park, according to what he learned 14ymedio. The incident occurred during the day. Castillo filed a complaint. According to sources close to the incident, the police station assured him that another 15 robberies had been reported in the area that same day.

Last week, Luciano Castillo, 2026 National Film Award winner and director of the Cuban Cinematheque, had his phone stolen in Lennon Park.

An older woman told 14ymedio that about a month before, her cloth purse had been cut open while she was shopping in the morning at the grocery store located next to the park, although they were unable to steal any of her belongings. The operation was so subtle that he discovered it when he got home.

During the tour of 14ymedio In the park, the statue of John Lennon was without a caretaker. On the other hand, at the entrance to the Yellow Submarine there were personnel guarding the parked motorcycles, one of the usual targets of thieves.

Insecurity extends to other public spaces on the Island, in the midst of the economic crisis, blackouts and deterioration of lighting. Last October 20, 14ymedio document how the thefts of phones, watches and bags have scared away visitors from Plaza de la Vigía, in Matanzas. There, a student said that his cell phone was taken from him in broad daylight, near the Sauto Theater.

Insecurity extends to other public spaces on the Island, in the midst of the economic crisis, blackouts and deterioration of lighting

In August, a couple from Guanabacoa told this newspaper that two hooded men took away their motorine at knifepoint as they returned home during a blackout. Days later, soldiers were deployed in various parts of the municipality indicated by residents as scenes of assaults.

Thefts in Lennon Park have a long history dating back to the statue’s own inauguration in December 2000. His glasses were stolen at least twice, leading authorities to hire guards who took turns to protect them. One of them, Juan González, carried the glasses in his pocket and placed them on the musician for the tourists’ photographs.

Thefts in Lennon Park have a long history dating back to the statue’s inauguration in December 2000.

In March 2018, 14ymedio re-documented the theft of glasses. Now, without a custodian in sight during the tour, even the sculpture itself is once again exposed to thieves.

On Sunday, the statue was still on its bench, but the crowd that once gathered around it was missing. The park preserves the name of the British musician and the memory of those youth gatherings, although fewer and fewer people dare to stay when evening falls.