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Independent Cuban platforms confirmed this Tuesday two more femicides recorded in Cuba since the beginning of the year, while in recent hours two additional murders of women have been reported.
In a statement published on their social media, the YoSíTeCreo en Cuba (YSTCC) observatories and the magazine Alas Tensas (OGAT) reported that there have been three verified cases of gender-based violence in 2024, following the confirmation of the femicides of young mothers Alianna Laborde Díaz in Holguín and Yaritza Chávez in Ciego de Ávila, which had been reported by the victims' families and close friends.
Chávez passed away on January 28 at his home in the Lugones neighborhood in Maidique, due to a gunshot fired by his ex-partner and the father of his youngest daughter.
The statement warned about “the use of an industrial firearm by a civilian” and cautioned that such a circumstance “shows alarming changes in a country where firearms are only permitted for police and military personnel.”
"We expect the authorities to explain how the attacker obtained the revolver," emphasized YSTCC and OGAT.
Chávez is survived by two minor daughters.
The day before, social media reported another femicide, that of Laborde, 32 years old, who died as a result of the wounds inflicted by her ex-partner with a sharp weapon.
In the early hours of February 3, the assailant attacked the young woman at her workplace, a Cupet gas station in the city of Holguín, and later died in an accident while fleeing on a motorcycle.
The man, identified on social media as Rafael Velázquez, “had a history of gender-based violence,” the platforms indicated. Activist Yamilka Laffita stated in a post this Monday that “he had recently served a sentence for threats against his former wife.”
YSTCC and OGAT wished for a "swift recovery" for a colleague of Laborde, who is hospitalized with injuries sustained while trying to protect her.
The young victim left behind a 12-year-old son.
Two more crimes of gender-based violence have been reported in the last few hours in Cuba, although they have not yet been included in the underreporting tracked by independent organizations.
According to reports on social media, the authorities are searching for a man accused of killing a young woman, identified as Verónica and the mother of two girls, in the municipality of Colón, in Matanzas. The assailant, who according to close sources had been in a relationship with the victim, shot her and then stabbed her multiple times.
Since the day before, another tragic event has shocked and raised alarms in the municipality of Vertientes, in Camagüey: the death of Cristina Guerra, 54 years old, after being shot multiple times by an unknown assailant who, according to witnesses, entered her home wearing a hood. The woman was urgently taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead shortly thereafter, according to social media reports.
Cuban independent platforms have not commented on these recent cases, although they reported that they are investigating two femicide alerts in Artemisa and another in Matanzas.
The Cuban government recently announced the establishment of a telephone line in 40 municipalities across the country to provide immediate assistance to victims of gender violence, collect data, and generate statistics on the issue, as well as train professionals in the field.
In 2024, in response to growing social concerns, the regime created a national system for the registration, assistance, follow-up, and monitoring of gender violence.
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