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Miriela Mesa Hernández, a Cuban teacher who lived in Ciego de Ávila, was murdered by her ex-partner this Sunday, despite having reported several weeks of harassment and intimidation. This crime raised the number of femicide victims in Cuba to 38 during 2025, according to independent platforms.
Mesa, 45 years old and mother of a six-year-old girl, worked at the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes primary school in the town of Falla, in the municipality of Chambas, where she was “recognized for her teaching work and her dedication to the community,” reported this Tuesday in a statement the gender observatories Alas Tensas (OGAT) and Yo Sí Te Creo en Cuba (YSTCC), which maintain a sub-register of cases of machismo violence in the country.
According to the testimonies gathered by both organizations and the statements by Yoania González Castillo, the victim's niece, the murder occurred between 6:00 and 7:30 p.m. on November 2, at a location known as the "Park of Lies," in central Falla.
The ex-partner of Mesa, Osvany Noa, has been identified as the alleged attacker, who “had been harassing and threatening her for weeks after the separation,” a situation that was ignored by the authorities, warned OGAT and YSTCC. Days before the femicide, residents in the town saw the man intimidating and behaving violently towards her.
According to the sources consulted, Noa attacked the woman to death, then stole her mobile phone and bicycle, and fled the scene. He remains a fugitive from justice.
Hours after the crime, shocking details began to emerge about the incident on social media, through reports from residents of Falla. According to witnesses, the victim was deprived of life in a brutal attack committed in the presence of her young daughter.
The murder of Mesa, described by those close to her as a "noble, cheerful, and dedicated teacher," has caused deep shock within the community.
The observatories warned that “this case once again highlights the absence of effective protection mechanisms against gender-based violence in Cuba” and reported that, “despite the history of harassment, threats, and public complaints, no preventive measures were adopted that could have prevented the crime.”
In another post shared this Tuesday, OGAT and YSTCC demanded that the police “provide clear information through the established channels about the whereabouts of the aggressor” of Mesa. Additionally, they confirmed two other femicides that had been reported in October and September of the previous year.
They verified the social feminicide of young Heidy León Domínguez, a private transport worker who was killed with “extreme violence” on the night of October 23, in San Miguel del Padrón, Havana, by unknown assailants who “attempted to take her belongings.”
The girl and the couple from León, who were with her, also sustained serious injuries. The victim lived and worked with her electric bicitaxi in the Altahabana neighborhood in Boyeros, the report indicated.
The femicide of Maidelín Reyes Hernández, 49 years old, on September 24, at the hands of her ex-partner, who invaded her home in the El Van neighborhood in Vertientes, Camagüey, has also been corroborated. Reyes had a daughter and two granddaughters who were under her care.
OGAT and YSTCC stated that, in recent days, “Cuba is experiencing an alarming rise in gender-based violence, with several cases reported in different provinces,” and documented another two attempts of femicide, bringing the total to 15 recorded this year.
Additionally, they noted that they are verifying other alerts received through their channels. At least one case, respectively, in the provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Villa Clara, and Mayabeque.
Both organizations reminded the public that "reporting these crimes is not a crime, but an act of defending human rights and demanding justice in the face of impunity."
At the same time, they reiterated their "commitment to the memory of the victims and the protection of Cuban women," even amidst a context of constant criminalization of the work of the observatories that highlight gender-based violence in Cuba.
Since 2019 until October 1 of this year, independent platforms documented 300 femicides in Cuba, a figure that only represents an underreporting of the machista violence that persists on the island.
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