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The Gender Observatory of Alas Tensas (OGAT) confirmed this Tuesday two new femicides committed in Cuba, with just a few hours apart, which raises the total confirmed cases to 25 for 2026 and highlights the escalation of “feminicide violence in a context of humanitarian crisis.”
This Monday, official sources announced the discovery of the lifeless body of Yarenia García Mariné, 36 years old, in Palancón, Las Tunas. The young woman had disappeared on May 15 after leaving her home in the Buena Vista neighborhood headed towards the Parquecito on Calle 7 and did not return.
Their search received support from numerous community members, to whom the OGAT expressed its public recognition.
The alleged killer, a known associate of the victim, has been arrested. Yarenia left behind a teenage son.
The Facebook profile "Claridad Tunera," the spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior (Minint) in Las Tunas, confirmed the discovery of Yarenia's body and the arrest of the person responsible, but refrained from classifying the crime as femicide, which is a common pattern in the official communications of the Cuban regime.
The statement noted that "the swift action of the authorities, with the support of the community, led to the capture of the criminal," without mentioning at any point the gender dimension of the crime.
The other feminicide verified by the OGAT is that of Yadira González Gámez, 41 years old, who was murdered on May 17 in the rural neighborhood of Cañada de Melones, in the municipality of Gibara, Holguín, also at the hands of a man known to her. The aggressor is currently in police custody.
Yadira is survived by two children, a 24-year-old woman and a 12-year-old boy. According to comments on social media from people close to her, she was "a very beloved woman in her community."
The observatory reiterated in its statement "the urgency of specific and effective protocols for the disappearances of individuals in Cuba, with special emphasis on women, girls, and adolescents, who are the most vulnerable in this situation."
He also demanded that "the repression against families and individuals who support the searches with their limited resources must stop now."
May has recorded five confirmed femicides by the OGAT up to this Tuesday. On May 12, a mother of a five-month-old baby was murdered in Arroyo Naranjo, Havana, by her ex-partner, in another case that shocked public opinion.
Last month was the most violent of the year so far, with at least seven reported cases, including a double femicide in Batabanó on April 22, when Rosalí Peña Hernández's partner, 31 years old, killed both her and her 12-year-old daughter, Camila Aguilera Peña.
As of the close of May 19, the OGAT has recorded 25 verified femicides, 17 attempted femicides, and one male murder due to gender motives in 2026. The organization is also investigating 12 potential femicides, five attempts, and one male murder for gender-related reasons reported in 2025; as well as eight potential femicides and three attempts reported in 2026.
The documented statistical pattern is consistent: 83.3% of crimes are committed by the partner or ex-partner, 62.5% occur in the victim's home, and 64.6% are carried out with blunt weapons.
The Cuban legal framework exacerbates the structural problem: femicide is not classified as an autonomous crime in the Penal Code in effect since 2022, and Cuba lacks a comprehensive gender-based violence law, shelters for women at risk, and effective protection protocols. Furthermore, the State does not publish official statistics on these crimes.
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