Cuba
| Author | George Kurian |
| Pages | 328-331 |
Page 328
Official country name: Republic of Cuba
Capital: Havana
Geographic description: The largest island in the Caribbean, south of Florida and between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean
Population: 11,346,670 (est. 2005)
The modern Cuban police system dates from the U.S. occupation of the island. The colonial police system, based mostly on the Spanish model, operated directly under the governor. The United States, which ruled the island from 1900 to 1902, introduced many new organizational features that gave more powers to the local police chiefs. These features were retained during Cuba's period of semi-independence under the American protectorate created by the terms of the Platt Amendment. However, with the rise of Fidel Castro, the Soviet model was adopted as the basis of the Cuban police.
The National Revolutionary Police falls under the authority of the Vice Ministry of Internal Order. It is the successor to the General Directorate of Public Order, created in 1961, when all the police and investigative forces in the country were merged. In the 1970s the various departments concerned with public order were given some autonomy under the direction of the vice ministry. There were three general directorates under this vice ministry, the most important one being the General Directorate of the National Revolutionary Police. The police forces were supplemented by the armed forces, the militia, and the Committees for the Defense of the Republic. The National Revolutionary Police was a relatively small force of no more than 10,000, but it was complemented by a much larger 50,000-member auxiliary made up of militia members assigned to police duties. The two other general directorates were concerned with fire prevention and extinction and penal establishments.
At the turn of the twenty-first century the Ministry of the Interior was divided into three vice ministries in charge of five general directorates. The functions supervised by the vice ministries fall into three categories of which the Vice Ministry for Internal Order and Crime Prevention is the largest. The Vice Ministry for Security is charged with the internal detection and prevention of threats to national security. The Technical Vice Ministry handles foreign espionage and intelligence gathering.
Page 329
The Technical Investigations Office of the Vice Ministry for Internal Order and Crime Prevention deals with all investigations in the criminal field, other than counter revolutionary activity. It includes the fingerprinting section, the Department of Crime Prevention, and the Legal Advisory Office. Juvenile...
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