No crime in Cuba? UPDATED

Starting back in college when I first confronted such people I’ve noticed that one of the big talking points that apologists for the castro regime alway revert to is how safe Cuba is.
Well Yoani, the Cuban blogger who Val previously quoted about in a WSJ article, brings us the account of her friend Gerardo and his girlfriend who were attacked in Havana by a dozen youths who stole Gerardo’s backpack and the girl’s purse after dragging her for several meters.
Nobody helped them despite the fact that there were people waiting for the bus. They just turned away. The police didn’t come. The only help came from the custodian of an old masonic temple that allowed them in and sheltered them from the attackers.
They went to the police station and made a full report to which the response was that they were crazy to be walking in that dimly lit part of town.
Of course.
UPDATE: Dr. Antonio de la Cova, Babalu’s resident historian adds to the discussion of crime in Cuba:

Crime in Cuba is hardly reported in the official media, unless it is spectacular, and the authorities then need to circulate photos of the fugitives. The Cuban regime does not release crime statistics nor reports how many people are in its jails.
American journalists visiting Cuba, not mesmerized by the “accomplishments of the Revolution,” did not have access to criminal statistics, or feared that negative articles would prompt their immediate deportation from the island, as happened to the NBC crew who in 1986 secretly filmed fugitive Robert Vesco in Havana.
In 1996, the regime established vigilante groups called “popular revolutionary vigilance detachments” to combat the rise in crime.
By 1999, crime was such a problem on the island, that Fidel Castro had to publicly address the issue.
The new crime wave was denounced by the Catholic Church and reported in the Washington Post and the New York Times.
This international coverage, especially regarding the murder of tourists in Cuba, including two Italians an Israeli and a Hialeah Gardens family prompted a drop in tourism, increased the execution of criminals, and diminished the mention of crime by Cuban authorities and the media.