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The Prosecutor's Office requested a 28-year prison sentence for Yoel Menéndez Rivera, accused of the femicide of María Emilia Savigne Borjas, aged 38, committed in Santiago de Cuba on May 23, 2024, according to independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada on Facebook.
The crime occurred at "La Rotonda" on Morro Road, when the victim was waiting for transportation to go to work, accompanied by one of her children and her then-partner.
Menéndez Rivera attacked her with a knife in broad daylight, inflicting serious wounds to her neck.
Attendees intervened to stop the attack and urgently transferred María Emilia to the Joaquín Castillo Duany Military Hospital, where she underwent surgery but passed away the following day due to the severity of her injuries.
The case revealed a serious institutional failure: the victim had previously filed complaints with the police about threats from her ex-partner, but the authorities did not take effective measures to protect her.
The outrage was immediate on social media, where numerous women shared similar experiences of ignored complaints and aggressors who remained free without consequences.
María Emilia left three orphaned children aged four, 15, and 20 years.
Her death raised the number of confirmed femicides in Cuba to 19 so far in 2024, according to the independent observatories YoSíTeCreo en Cuba and the Gender Observatory Alas Tensas.
Two years after the crime, sources linked to the judicial process confirmed that the trial took place and that the prosecution requested a 28-year sentence.
The requested sentence falls within the usual range applied by the Cuban judicial system in these cases. In June 2025, the Provincial People's Court of Las Tunas also imposed 28 years on the murderer of Katia Ortiz Figueredo, in a case with similar characteristics.
The Cuban Penal Code in effect since 2022 does not classify femicide as an autonomous crime, although its articles 344 and 345.1 provide for penalties ranging from 20 to 30 years, life imprisonment, or death when the crime occurs due to gender discrimination.
Feminist organizations criticize that the lack of specific categorization, combined with institutional inaction in response to previous reports, leaves women unprotected.
The data from independent observatories illustrate the magnitude of the problem: between 2019 and 2025, there were 315 femicides recorded in Cuba, peaking at 89 cases in 2023. In 2024, there were 56, which decreased to 48 in 2025, and by May 24, 2026, there had already been 26 femicides so far this year.
Mayeta Labrada concluded her report with a reflection that summarizes the feelings of those who knew the victim: "No sentence will bring back the life of this mother from Santiago nor erase the trauma of her children. But family and friends hope that this case sets a precedent and that similar incidents are not allowed to continue being ignored until they end in tragedy."
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