In a heart-wrenching incident on Wednesday, 29-year-old Yiliannis Bueno Espinosa, a devoted mother of two young daughters, was brutally murdered by her former partner in the village of El Sur, located in the Tercer Frente municipality of Santiago de Cuba. This tragic news was confirmed by those close to the victim.
The horrific crime was brought to light by her uncle, Liuvan Lozada Carbonell. He divulged that the perpetrator, known by the nickname Lali, attacked Bueno with a machete before fleeing the scene. "A senseless machete murder of a vibrant young woman with two little girls, now orphaned due to a cowardly, sick murderer," Lozada condemned in a Facebook post.
He pleaded for justice, urging anyone with information about the killer's whereabouts to contact the police immediately. Lozada clarified that the attacker was not her husband but a mentally unstable man obsessed with Bueno, who ultimately ended her life. He called for stricter laws to harshly punish those who commit such heinous acts of violence against women.
The Violent Attack and Community Outcry
Yosmany Mayeta, a communicator from Santiago, provided further insight into the savage assault that ended the life of this young mother. According to a source, Bueno had just dropped her daughters off at school when the assailant ambushed her. He stabbed her in the chest, and as she attempted to escape, he began to strangle her. Tragically, Bueno succumbed to her injuries on her way to the local clinic, the stab wound to her heart proving fatal.
The authorities have reportedly apprehended the murderer, bringing a measure of relief to the anguished community.
Rising Concerns Over Gender-Based Violence in Cuba
The Gender Observatory of the magazine *Alas Tensas* (OGAT) confirmed Bueno's murder, as well as another woman's in Holguín province. This brings the number of femicides in Cuba in 2024 to 53, as tracked by Cuban independent platforms. In 2023, OGAT and the *YoSíTeCreo* platform confirmed 89 femicides in the country. However, according to partial statistics reported by the Cuban government, there were 117 recorded femicides by October of that year, though they refrained from using the term "feminicide" to describe these murders.
The government's count exceeds the number of violent female deaths recorded by independent feminist organizations in Cuba, which are committed to women's welfare and rights. Notably, the Cuban Penal Code does not define feminicide as a crime, nor does it utilize the terms "feminicide" or "gender-based crime."
In August, the regime disclosed that 110 cases of gender-related murders of women aged 15 and older were tried in 2023, according to data from the Cuban Observatory on Gender Equality. Additionally, 378 cases of sexual violence were prosecuted, with an unspecified number of women suffering injuries from attacks by former partners.
The state-sponsored Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) acknowledged that over 16,000 women and girls from 9,579 families live in situations of violence across the nation.
Earlier this year, the government established a national system for registering, addressing, tracking, and monitoring gender-based violence within the family environment.
Understanding Gender-Based Violence in Cuba
What is the current state of gender-based violence in Cuba?
Gender-based violence remains a severe issue in Cuba, with 53 femicides reported in 2024 alone, according to independent platforms. In 2023, 117 cases were recorded, though the government did not categorize them as feminicides.
Does Cuban law recognize feminicide as a crime?
No, the Cuban Penal Code does not explicitly define feminicide as a crime, and the terms "feminicide" or "gender-based crime" are not used in legal contexts.
What measures has the Cuban government taken to address this issue?
The Cuban government established a national system for registering, addressing, tracking, and monitoring gender-based violence within family settings in mid-2023.