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The Cuban Foreign Ministry published an institutional message on X this Saturday stating that "there is no and there will be no impunity in Cuba for acts of gender-based violence" and that the country has "a robust legislation to tackle this phenomenon", while independent observatories have already documented 19 femicides so far in 2026.
The message from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX) cites the Constitution of the Republic as a framework for state protection and discusses addressing both direct and indirect victims to facilitate "their rehabilitation and effective reintegration into society."
The official statement sharply contrasts with the verified data from the Alas Tensas Gender Observatory (OGAT): as of April 23, Cuba had recorded 19 confirmed femicides, 14 attempted femicides, and one male murder for gender-related reasons.
The most recent and shocking case occurred in the early morning hours of April 22 in Batabanó, Mayabeque, where Rosalí Peña Hernández, 31, and her daughter Camila Aguilera Peña, 12, were murdered by Rosalí's partner, identified as Yohandri.
Camila was not the biological daughter of the aggressor, as confirmed by OGAT.
The man also severely attacked Rosalí's mother and a neighbor who came to help them, adding two additional attempts of femicide, while Rosalí's seven-year-old son managed to escape.
The funerals for both were held on Friday, bringing together family, friends, and neighbors.
OGAT pointed out that the double murder in Batabanó confirms "the lack of protection that many women face against violent aggressors and the absence of effective prevention and protection mechanisms" in Cuba.
Cuba does not have a comprehensive law on gender violence
The distribution of the 19 femicides in 2026 is alarming: six in January, one in February, six in March, and at least six more in April up to the 23rd, according to the report for the first quarter from OGAT.
Among the victims are Marina Pino Martínez, 23 years old and mother of two girls, murdered on April 14 in Jagüey Grande, Matanzas, by her ex-partner, and Yarisleidis Saavedra Hernández and Maylén Fernández Soriano, both 26 years old, murdered on April 7.
The legal framework that the regime presents to the international community has structural gaps that are evidenced by the figures themselves: the 2022 Penal Code does not classify femicide as an autonomous crime, Cuba lacks a comprehensive law on gender-based violence, there are no shelters for victims, nor effective protection protocols.
The Cuban government also does not publish official statistics on gender violence; all figures come from independent observatories that conduct subregistries based on community verifications in light of the state's complete opacity.
This independent monitoring has been further weakened: on April 16, the Feminicide Observatory of Yo Sí Te Creo en Cuba (YSTCC) announced its closure due to lack of financial resources and human exhaustion, after documenting 315 feminicides between 2019 and 2025, leaving OGAT as the only active independent reference.
In 2025, Cuba recorded 48 confirmed femicides, with 83.3% committed by partners or ex-partners, according to the data compiled by both observatories before the closure of YSTCC.
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