A man was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his ex-partner in 2023 in Sancti Spiritus.

The perpetrator of the femicide of a nurse in the municipality of Taguasco, in Sancti Spiritus, was sentenced to life imprisonment by the provincial court, almost a year and a half after committing the crime, as reported by the local press.

On the morning of February 28, 2023, Liván Reinaldo Mora Pérez, 48 years old and known as "El Lento" ("The Slow One"), stabbed to death Vanelys Macola Sierra, 37 years old and mother of a child, in her home in the town of Tuinucú.

According to the officialist newspaper Escambray, the court decided to punish the accused as "the perpetrator of a consummated murder, with lifetime imprisonment, currently serving in a penitentiary facility of the Ministry of the Interior," in addition to paying 2,500 pesos to the victim's youngest son.

The newspaper reported that Mora, "who had spent a part of his life in prison due to several criminal incidents," started "a romantic relationship with a woman residing in the town in 2022, which, due to so many disagreements and violent arguments, she decided to end."

The article points out that a year later, and after the couple separated, "the victim's relatives' bad omen came true," but it does not clarify whether Macola or any of her relatives had previously reported Mora for domestic violence.

In the early hours of February 28th, the man "crouched in the darkness of the backyard of his former partner's residence until, around six in the morning, he entered the house without her consent. After a failed attempt to restore the romantic relationship, he drew the hidden knife and chased her, stabbing her several times and taking her life."

After committing the crime, Mora fled and was on the run for several days, but the police finally arrested him on the morning of March 4.

Escambray detailed the extensive criminal history of the killer, who was imprisoned numerous times between 1992 and 2020. Mora had been sentenced to five years in prison in 1999 for attempted homicide, and had also been in jail for robbery, theft, disturbances in penitentiary establishments, escape of prisoners or detainees, and resistance.

The report stated that "from a young age, he exhibited a maladjusted social behavior, had poor relationships with family and neighbors, frequently consumed alcoholic beverages, and disrupted public order." Additionally, at the time of committing the crime against Macola, "he did not have a work link."

Likewise, he pointed out that, in a ruling issued this year, the People's Supreme Court declared the appeal filed by the accused against the verdict of the First Criminal Chamber of the Popular Provincial Court of Sancti Spíritus in 2023 to be unfounded.

The femicide against Macola was one of the 89 cases registered by independent observatories and media outlets the previous year, but it stands out as one of the few that has been made public by the official Cuban press.

Last March, the official program "Hacemos Cuba" reported the sentencing of five Cubans to life imprisonment for the murder of women, in addition to two who were sentenced to 40 years in prison for the same crime, which the current Penal Code does not classify as femicide.

According to the underreporting maintained by independent feminist platforms, as of June 18 of the current year, there had been 28 femicides in Cuba. Subsequently, the deaths of two more women were reported in the province of Holguín, allegedly due to gender-based violence.