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The community of Gua, in Cienaguilla, a popular council in the Granma municipality of Campechuela, is in shock following the murder of Darmis Ismarai (Gulli) Figueredo Rodríguez, 38, and his partner, 43, which took place on the night of January 7 in their home.
According to reports from Facebook, Cuban feminist organizations stated that the crime was allegedly committed by Darmis's ex-partner, whom she had previously reported for violence, with no police response to prevent the tragedy.
The double homicide left four children orphaned, two children from each victim.
The Gender Observatory Alas Tensas (OGAT) and the independent platform Yo Sí Te Creo en Cuba (YSTCC), who verified the facts with community sources and local media, renewed their call to the authorities to adopt effective measures to combat these incidents.
Until January 13, both groups have reported two femicides, one attempted femicide, and one murder of a man for gender-related reasons.
In addition, they are conducting investigations into 12 possible femicides, four attempted femicides, and one murder of a man due to gender-related motives that occurred in 2025.
Captured assassin
According to the account of Facebook "Nio reporting a crime," on January 10, the Police captured the perpetrator of both crimes, identified as Adrián Corrales.
Family members and close friends testified that Corrales murdered Darmis Ismarai and her current partner, Junio Rosa Rivera, with a machete.
"The case generated great concern as the attacker had threatened to return to commit new violent acts, including threats against close family members," the post specifies.
The murder of a nurse in Sancti Spíritus, the first feminicide of 2026
The misogynistic violence in Cuba had already marked the beginning of the year with a femicide that occurred on January 6 in Jatibonico, Sancti Spíritus.
The victim, Magaly Aragón Aragón, a 59-year-old nurse, was found dead in a sugarcane field near the Las Mulas prison camp, where she worked. The assault included sexual violence and ended in murder.
The attacker, identified as Yoel Soriano Santana, was serving a 26-year prison sentence for a previous murder and was in Las Mulas at the time of the crime.
According to reports, he confessed to the homicide and the post-mortem sexual abuse. The victim is survived by two adult children.
A pattern of persistent violence
These crimes contribute to an alarming pattern in Cuba.
During 2025, observatories recorded at least 48 femicides, in a context of absence of official statistics and without specific laws protecting women at risk.
Despite the fact that the Penal Code mentions gender-based violence, there is no comprehensive law or independent classification for femicide, and there are no shelters or immediate response protocols for threatened women.
The double murder in Granma and the femicide in Sancti Spíritus highlight institutional negligence and the lack of prevention, even in state environments.
In Darmis's case, she had reported her attacker without the authorities acting in time; in Magaly's case, the homicide occurred within the same workplace under the custody of the prison system.
Response from civil society
Feminist platforms insist that reporting is not a crime and urge citizens to report cases of extreme gender violence.
Moreover, they take on responsibilities that would normally fall to the state, such as documenting crimes, conducting investigations, supporting families, and raising awareness of gender-based violence.
According to OGAT and YSTCC, the recurrence of femicides and murders of men for gender-related reasons demonstrates a recurring pattern, in which impunity, invisibility, and lack of legislation allow aggressors to act with complete freedom.
They warn that Cuban society cannot afford to look the other way, and that legislative action and effective protection are urgent to prevent new victims from adding to the list of murders due to gender violence.
The beginning of 2026 in Cuba reflects the structural crisis of misogynistic violence, where the lack of comprehensive laws, shelters, prevention protocols, and institutional response continues to expose women and men to extreme risks due to gender reasons.
The tragedy of Darmis and her partner, as well as that of Magaly Aragón, underscores the urgent need to take action before patterns that have already claimed dozens of lives in recent years recur.
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