At least 18 dead from violence during July in Cuba.

At least 18 people died in Cuba during the month of July due to the rising wave of violence affecting the island.

The Cuban Observatory of Conflicts (OCC) recorded that number of violent deaths, as well as 521 protests and public denunciations in the seventh month of the year, reported Martí Noticia.

"A toll of 18 Cubans dead from violence recorded by the OCC in July resulted from sudden fights, settling of scores, feminicides (3), or were killed for robbery. Three other people were run over by motor vehicles and the drivers fled the scene," the information details.

It is necessary to point out that other equally violent events did not result in loss of life but demonstrated the frustration of many Cubans in the context of the widespread crisis on the island.

According to the publication, the carnival of Santiago de Cuba was the scene of almost daily skirmishes between groups of young people, a growing manifestation of social violence.

Journalist Rolando Cartaya, author of the monthly report for the project supported by the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba, told Martí Noticias that in the section on the disappeared there were 13 cases this month, six of them women and girls, something unprecedented in Cuba.

The organization highlights that motorcycle theft has increased on the island, and there have been people injured.

The OCC believes that it is very difficult to stop crime in Cuba in the current context; no matter how much pressure they put on the police, they will be able to solve this problem.

"The population is also tense; they are scared that if a child goes out into the street, they might not come back," he expressed.

During July, the ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel confirmed before the National Assembly the increase in violence, crime, and addictions in the country, and the Police acknowledged that acts of vandalism sometimes involve the use of firearms.

The manifestations of discontent included discomfort due to hunger, repression, lack of water, electricity, and medicine, among other reasons indicated by the OCC.