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The Cuban artist and playwright Yadian Rizo Abreu was the victim of a brutal physical assault by the security forces of the cultural space La Casona, located on 17th Street between M and N in Vedado, Havana, during an event of the sociocultural project La Mina on April 4th.
The complaint was made public by the Translúcidos project, a support network for the LGBTQ+ community in Cuba, through their Facebook page, where they described the incident as "an act of barbarism" and demanded immediate justice.
According to the statement from Translúcidos, security agents not only restrained Rizo Abreu but also applied asphyxiation and strangulation techniques, threw him to the ground causing a head injury, and accompanied the attack with explicitly homophobic insults.
"What was supposed to be a social research exercise and artistic performance ended in an act of barbarism," the organization highlighted, emphasizing that the event in which the victim was participating had an artistic and cultural character.
Translúcidos was unequivocal in its legal assessment of the events: "The use of excessive force and strangulation are criminal acts. Those involved must be aware that their actions were illegal and profoundly inhumane. We demand immediate disciplinary and legal measures; these acts of hate cannot go unpunished."
What makes the situation even more serious, according to the organization, is the evident contradiction in the management of the space. "In this project, performances of various kinds are allowed, and it is also tolerated for women to remain in intimate clothing without this being seen as a problem of 'order.' However, the response changes dramatically when the body involved is that of a gay man or a diverse person."
For Translúcidos, the motivation behind the attack leaves no room for doubt: "There was no security protocol here; it was a hunt driven by prejudice. The difference in treatment highlights that the problem is not the 'intervention,' but the structural homophobia of those who guard the place."
This incident is part of a documented pattern of violence against the LGBTQ+ community in Cuba, marked by impunity and the absence of legal frameworks that recognize and sanction hate crimes based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Among the most recent events is an attack on transgender women near the Sports City in Havana in October 2025, where one of the victims was left with a bloodied head.
In June 2023, six trans women were stoned in Cárdenas, Matanzas, and when they went to report it, a police officer responded that "this type of injury does not require reporting and hate crimes based on gender do not proceed."
That same year, the trans woman Flavia Herrera Rodríguez passed away in Havana under circumstances that activists described as a possible femicide, with no public conclusions from any investigation having been disclosed.
Translúcidos called on the artistic community and authorities to speak out: "The bodies of LGBTQ+ individuals are not punching bags; we are not objects on which to vent frustrations or hate speech. Public spaces and cultural centers must stop being territories of risk for our community. We will not take a single step back in raising awareness of these abuses."
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