The Cuban troubadour Ray Fernández, artistically known as "Ray Tun Tun," was the victim of a violent assault in Vedado, Havana, which resulted in the loss of teeth and fractures in his face and skull, according to .
In his initial post, Fernández did not reveal the cause of his condition but hinted that he had gone through a critical moment: "Patience, friends, I am still alive... I will be back in the arena soon. Thanks to the enormous number of sisters and brothers who have supported me in this difficult time."
It was in the comments where the gravity of the incident came to light. When asked by his friend Julio Ballester Guzmán about what happened, the troubadour replied directly: "I was assaulted, I lost my teeth, fractured skull and face... I'm fine now, Miliciano."
The most accurate details of the attack emerged from a private conversation that Fernández had with the musician Dagoberto Pedraja, a Cuban guitarist and composer with an extensive career. Pedraja later shared a screenshot of that conversation on his Facebook profile with the text "Up... Because the street belongs to the...".
In those messages, Fernández described what happened with stark detail: "I was robbed, I lost my teeth and I have several fractures in my face and skull but I'm already gearing up for battle... Damn, the street has turned into a western."
According to visible fragments of that same conversation, the assault occurred at seven in the morning, two blocks from his home, in the vicinity of the Centro Vasco, located on 4th street, between 53 and 55, in the Plaza de la Revolución municipality, in Vedado.
The phrase "the street has become a western" takes on a particular significance coming from the person who utters it.
Fernández declared himself a "proud communist militant" in January 2020, mocked the song "Homeland and Life" in February 2021 and wrote a décima celebrating the Minister of Culture Alpidio Alonso following the incident in which he assaulted an independent journalist.
As recently as May of this year, the troubadour avoided naming those responsible for the electrical crisis with the phrase: "Fidel is Fidel! Raúl is Raúl! And this blackout has no name!"
The attack on the troubadour is part of a persistent decline in public safety in Cuba. The Cuban Observatory of Citizen Audit recorded 2,833 verified crimes in 2025, a 115% increase compared to 2024, with 1,536 cases of theft and 398 crimes concentrated in Havana.
El Vedado, where the assault on Fernández took place, has been one of the hardest-hit areas: in June of this year, residents of that area reported more than 30 burglaries in homes in just one week, in the area between Zapata and 23, and Paseo and 12.
Other recent incidents include an armed assault against a microenterprise in San Miguel del Padrón in September and the robbery of a Canadian tourist on La Rampa that same month.
The Ministry of the Interior itself has acknowledged a 25% increase in crime, although independent organizations believe that the actual figures are considerably higher.
Filed under: