Related videos:
Cuban authorities have arrested Jorge Luis Piña Rodríguez, identified as the person responsible for the death of Marina (Marian) Pino Martínez, a 23-year-old woman who was murdered on April 10 in her home in a neighborhood in northern Jagüey Grande, Matanzas.
The official pro-government Facebook profile "Con Todos la Victoria" confirmed the arrest with a brief post that described the crime not as a feminicide, but as a "passionate drama that got out of control".
"Her ex showed up and brutally attacked her, leaving irreparable injuries," the cited source added.
The publication stated that "Jorge Luis Piña Rodríguez has been arrested and is ready to be tried by the Justice for the heinous crime committed."
The official profile concluded with a proclamation of "zero tolerance" towards crime, without ever using the term femicide or framing the tragic event as gender violence.
Marina Pino Martínez was a preschool teacher in the town of San Bernardo, Jagüey Grande, and the mother of two young girls: one aged four and the other just a few months old.
According to preliminary reports on social media, the attacker was apprehended on April 11, one day after the crime, during the victim's funeral.
The independent observatories Alas Tensas (OGAT) and Yo Sí Te Creo en Cuba confirmed the case between April 13 and 14, bringing the total number of femicides recorded in Cuba to 16 so far in 2026.
The use of the euphemism "passionate drama" by the official media contrasts with the characterization by independent observers, who label the incident as femicide and warn of "a new revictimizing trend on social media regarding women in the cycle of macho violence in Cuba."
This discursive practice -framing femicides as isolated romantic incidents- is common in Cuban state media and contributes to downplaying systematic gender violence.
The murder of Marian Pino was the third reported by the observatories in less than 30 hours, during a week that also included the killing of Yunia Lisset Bizet Sánchez, 52 years old, in Bayamo, when she was heading to the police station by bicycle taxi to report her ex-partner.
By April 16, the observatories had recorded 17 confirmed femicides in Cuba in 2026, compared to 48 throughout 2025, with 83.3% committed by partners or ex-partners.
The Cuban Penal Code of 2022 does not classify femicide as an autonomous crime, and the island lacks a comprehensive law against gender-based violence, shelters, or effective protection protocols for women at risk.
On April 16, the Yo Sí Te Creo en Cuba observatory announced its closure due to lack of resources and human fatigue, after documenting 315 femicides between 2019 and 2025, although they clarified: "We are not leaving. We continue to fight".
Filed under: