A Cuban mother of two was killed in the street with a knife on Sunday night in the municipality of Güines, province of Mayabeque, as confirmed this Tuesday by the Gender Observatory of Alas Tensas (OGAT).
The victim, identified as Yesneidy López Hernández, was stabbed by her ex-partner on 103rd Street in the aforementioned municipality.
To make matters worse, the brutal femicide occurred in the presence of Yesneidy's teenage daughter.
The youngest, 15 years old, was also injured while trying to defend her mother.
The assailant, identified as the ex-partner of the victim, fled the scene and is currently on the run.
The OGAT emphasized that the aggressor "had a history of recurring assaults against the victim," and that the events occurred "by betrayal."
According to other independent sources, the crime was motivated by jealousy and reportedly occurred at their home, although the OGAT indicated that the femicide took place in broad daylight on the street.
According to the report from the Facebook profile "Entérate Mayabaque" - which even identified the alleged attacker by name - Yesneidy received approximately 16 stab wounds during the attack.
After the violent incident, mother and daughter were urgently taken to a hospital: Yesneidy passed away due to the severity of her injuries; the minor survived.
The crime has caused consternation, especially among those who knew the murdered woman.
Neighbors in Güines remember Yesneidy as a hard-working woman, a good person, and a devoted mother. In addition to the injured teenager, the murdered woman is survived by another child.
A resident of 103rd Street expressed: "We cannot normalize that a woman dies at the hands of a violent man."
The 41st femicide of the year
The OGAT has registered this crime as the 41st femicide in Cuba so far in 2026.
The independent feminist organization lamented the situation with a phrase that summarizes the accumulated despair: “They are killing us.”
This case occurs just one day after the same observatory confirmed the 40th femicide: that of Yunierkis Gómez Lozano, 43 years old, in Cumanayagua, Cienfuegos.
July has been an especially challenging month for gender violence in Cuba: in just 13 days, at least four femicides have been confirmed in various provinces of the country.
In addition to the femicide of Yusneidys and Yunierkis, on July 1st, Dayana Borges, 26 years old, was murdered in Centro Habana.
On July 5, Camagüey, Yolexis Virgen Arias Oroceno, aged 54, died after being stabbed by her partner.
The 41 femicides confirmed as of July 13 represent an increase of 112.5% compared to the 18 recorded in the same period of 2025, a rise that the OGAT documents month by month in the face of the regime's silence, which rarely publishes official statistics on gender-based violence and whose state media seldom cover these crimes.
A pattern that repeats without legal response
Yesneidy's case reflects the most common pattern in Cuban femicides: an aggressor with a history of previous violence, a partner or ex-partner relationship, and a bladed weapon.
According to data from OGAT, 83.3% of femicides in Cuba are committed by partners or ex-partners, 64.6% are carried out with sharp objects, and 62.5% occur in the victim's home.
Since 2019 until June 2026, independent observatories have documented 350 femicides in Cuba, reaching a historic peak of 90 cases in 2023.
Despite these figures, Cuba lacks a comprehensive law on gender violence.
Femicide is not classified as an autonomous crime in the current Penal Code; it only appears as an aggravating factor of homicide. In 2022, the National Assembly rejected an amendment to incorporate it as an independent crime.
The OGAT is the only active independent observatory on the island since April 2026, following the closure of Yo Sí Te Creo en Cuba due to lack of resources.
The organization reminds citizens: "Reporting these crimes is not a crime," and encourages them to report cases anonymously through its online form.
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