The Gender Observatory of Alas Tensas (OGAT) confirmed this Sunday the femicide of Bertha Veitia López, a 64-year-old woman whose body was found in a banana grove in Nuevitas, Camagüey, after being murdered on August 26, allegedly by someone she knew.
According to the report published on Facebook, the discovery of Bertha's body revealed conditions that the observatory described as "great cruelty and misogyny," and which were made public as a warning to the community.
The author of the crime is already in custody, the observatory reported.
Bertha is remembered in her community for her generosity and her work as an assistant at the local hospital in Nuevitas.
OGAT sent its condolences to the sister and her son, as well as to the many people who knew and appreciated her.
This is the first documented femicide in Nuevitas this year, according to the list of femicides in Cuba by the organization.
In the same report, it was confirmed the murder of Yadelaine Roque Torres, 25 years old, which occurred on September 4 in the rural town of Sabana, La Caoba, near El Cobre, Santiago de Cuba, a case that was reported by the independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada.
OGAT provided new details about the case: Yadelaine's attacker reportedly escaped from a nearby prison to assault her in front of her house.
The individual, identified as Yorgelis Vidal Ayarde, 24 years old, attacked her with a white weapon. Hours later, he was found dead on the Marimón bridge, in the José Martí district of Santiago de Cuba, after taking his own life.
The victim, mother of a nearly five-year-old girl from a previous relationship, was urgently transferred to Ambrosio Grillo Hospital in El Cobre, but she did not survive her injuries.
With these two cases, the OGAT count reaches 50 femicides in Cuba so far in 2026, in addition to 21 attempted femicides and two murders of men due to feminicide-related violence.
The 47th and 48th femicides of the year were that of Doctor Yanelkys Alonso Valdés and her mother Lenia Valdés Amador, both victims of the same attack in Güines, Mayabeque, at the end of August.
Cuba lacks a comprehensive law on gender violence, and femicide is not defined as an independent crime in the current Penal Code, where it only appears as an aggravating factor for homicide.
A official report from the Observatory of Cuba on Gender Equality published in August revealed that in 2025, 49 cases of women murdered for gender reasons were judged. Of the victims, 46.9% were killed by their ex-partners, and 89.7% of the crimes occurred at home.
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