Gloria Almanza had already reported her ex-partner for violence.
14ymedio, Havana, May 4, 2026 — The Alas Tensas Observatory reported the first femicide of the month in Cuba this Monday. Gloria Almanza Céspedez, 52, was murdered in her home by her ex-partner on May 1st, in the Los Mangos neighborhood of San Miguel del Padrón, Havana.
The communicator Niover Licea, who cites testimonies from residents of the area on his Facebook page, explained in a post this Sunday that the incident occurred at night, when the woman’s ex-partner attacked her with a knife, causing a fatal wound to her chest.
According to the same report, neighbors say that “it was not the first time the aggressor had used violence, as he had a history of abusive behavior in previous relationships, including assaulting another woman who worked as a teacher.”
That version was corroborated by Alas Tensas, which denounced that, “once again, the lack of prevention on the part of the police is demonstrated, since the aggressor had been reported by the victim.”
“Once again, the lack of prevention on the part of the police is demonstrated.”
Regarding the attacker, Licea reported that “in the last few hours, it was confirmed that he surrendered to the authorities, so he is now in police custody while the investigations continue.”
Gloria Almanza, the mother of two young daughters, was a teacher at a local church, the NGO reported, adding that it had raised concerns about the rise in attempted femicides this year. The organization also documented the tragic case of a teenage girl who died under unclear circumstances, and that access to the investigation report was needed.
In their message, Alas Tensas reported that 12 other cases of possible femicides are under investigation, which, if confirmed, would considerably raise the number.
According to 14ymedio‘s records , this case brings the total number of femicides in Cuba to 17 so far in 2016. The most recent documented case was that of Mariolis López Silio, 37, who was attacked by her ex-partner with a gun “at point-blank range on the block, around 10 or 11 at night” on April 24, according to a relative of the woman who spoke anonymously to this media outlet.
There is a “higher incidence” of femicides committed in the victims’ homes by their partners
Although Alas Tensas has reported 21 deaths so far this year, most of them crimes between partners, some deaths have been recorded in different circumstances, such as that of Yarisleidis Saavedra Hernández or that of Olimpia Pérez, a 79-year-old woman who was found dead in her home in Mayabeque, on March 2.
The observatory has warned in previous messages about a “higher incidence” of femicides committed in the homes of the victims by their partners and ex-partners.
According to an analysis by typology of femicides verified in 2025 by Alas Tensas, 83.3% of the murders registered last year were committed by the victim’s partner. “This confirms the persistence of gender-based violence within intimate relationships as the primary risk factor,” the report states.
It also states that “the marked concentration of femicides by partners and ex-partners indicates that the home and intimate relationships continue to be spaces of high vulnerability, in a context where unequal power relations persist and where institutional mechanisms for prevention, protection and care are insufficient or non-existent.”
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