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A mother reported that her 11-year-old daughter suffered systematic verbal and psychological abuse over three school years at the primary school Vo Thi Thang, located in the Playa municipality of Havana, a center that the Cuban authorities showcase as a model of the national educational system, according to a report published by elTOQUE.
The breaking point occurred on March 31 during a Spanish Language exam.
According to the testimony of Drialis Yasmín Agüero Quesada, a sociologist and master in Community Development, the teacher burst into the classroom to favor certain students and became upset because the girl's composition did not reflect a text about Che Guevara that she had supposedly dictated earlier in class.
“He lunged at the girl in an unhinged tone, telling her that her composition was wrong, too short, and didn’t capture what she had said about Che. He abruptly ripped the exam paper from her hands to force her to retake the test,” the mother recounted.
The youngest, daughter of a Cuban mother and an Angolan father, broke down crying in the middle of the classroom. When another teacher asked what was happening, the teacher replied, "Let her cry, she's crying out of frustration."
Subsequently, according to the report, the teacher approached the girl in the play area and hit her with her arm in a provocative manner in front of witnesses.
The case did not begin that day. The victim's mother claims to have warned the school administration in previous years about the teacher's treatment, but no effective measures were taken. The teacher remained with the same group during fourth, fifth, and sixth grade.
A psychological report prepared on April 3 by a specialist from the Playa Teaching Polyclinic—who has been caring for the minor since fourth grade—confirmed that the girl shows symptoms of complex post-traumatic stress disorder in a state of acute decompensation.
The document notes that since fourth grade, the minor has exhibited symptoms such as crying before going to school, abdominal pain, panic attacks, and refusal to enter the classroom.
"The child's continued presence with the same teacher who has humiliated her for three years is a sustaining factor that no psychotherapy can fully neutralize," warned the psychologist in her conclusions.
After escalating the complaint to Municipal Education, Provincial Education, and the Embassy of Angola, on April 24, the school administration notified Drialis Yasmín that the teacher was definitively removed from the group and was prohibited from approaching the girl.
The resolution came after years of claims, a psychological report documenting severe damage and the diplomatic intervention of a foreign embassy.
The case also highlights how political indoctrination in Cuban classrooms can lead to mechanisms of pressure and punishment.
La Vo Thi Thang, founded in 1968 by Fidel Castro as a symbol of Cuba-Vietnam solidarity, serves 604 students and has been visited by high-ranking officials.
In October 2025, Díaz-Canel visited the center and presented a model of the Military History Museum of Vietnam. In September 2024, Lis Cuesta and the Vietnamese First Lady made a donation of educational materials there.
This case is part of a broader deterioration of the Cuban school environment. In November 2025, a teacher was killed in a school in Guantánamo, and that same month a report was made of a fight between a female student and a teacher in Artemisa.
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