’Cubadebate’ did not inform its readers of the murder of a child by his father, but it does publish an official statement about the arrest of the murderer
14ymedio, Madrid, 3 December 2024 — The official press announced this Tuesday the murder of Edgar Aliesky Martínez Torres, the five-year-old boy whose violent death was denounced by independent media and feminist organizations last week. As usual in state media, they point out the crime when it is already solved and do not give a single detail about the circumstances of the violent event.
Avoiding the impact of the case, Cubadebate reports the arrest of the perpetrator of violent acts against children and pregnant women in Minas, Camagüey. The article goes further in concealing the facts and indicates that “the occurrence of an unusual event against the life of a child under five years of age was learned,” without explaining at any time that the victim was murdered.
Something new is revealed: the man “in the course of his flight sexually assaulted a woman who is eight months pregnant,” which is simply a statement from the Ministry of the Interior incomprehensible to anyone who had no knowledge of the events.
The events occurred on November 26 and were broadcast two days later by the Alas Tensas platform, which already said that it was a case of vicarious violence, in which the murderer was the father of the minor. “The aggressor kills a third person, children or other relatives, to make the victim suffer,” the organization reported on its social networks, which attached a list of seven more children killed by their parents or the partners of their mothers. “We have a debt towards Edgar Aliesky and all the boys and girls who have suffered the most terrible of deaths,” it added.
The version circulating in Camagüey indicates that Edgar Aliesky was with his maternal grandmother when his father arrived
The version circulating in Camagüey indicates that Edgar Aliesky was with his maternal grandmother when his father arrived without anything indicating, apparently, his intentions, even despite the fact that the child’s mother, Keilyn Torres Varela, was being threatened by her son’s father for wanting to leave the relationship. Since the murder was committed, Torres Varela has been guarded by the Police, since she was the main target.
After strangling the child, the alleged murderer ran away and came across the pregnant woman, who was on her way to a medical check-up. He hit her, raped her and stole her cell phone. According to a nurse at the maternal and child hospital Ana Betancourt De Mora, “the pregnant woman is stable and maintains her pregnancy.”
The police information validates the identity of the alleged murderer, although without granting him the right to the presumption of innocence, as befits an official body until the trial. “In the course of the investigation it is known that the author of these facts is the citizen Alieski Martínez Ferrer, father of the aforementioned minor,” the statement continues, without revealing more facts than the sexual assault on the pregnant woman.
Comments on social networks and in ’Cubadebate’ have been filled with requests for justice
Comments on social networks and in Cubadebate have been filled with requests for justice, including the death penalty for the murderer.
The way the official press proceeds follows the usual pattern of announcing violent events only after the criminal has been arrested, as happened days ago with the case of an alleged murderer of two custodians in Santiago de Cuba. The purpose is to generate a feeling of tranquility and crime control that, despite the Regime’s efforts, does not resonate with the population.
In a survey prepared by Bohemia magazine a year ago, 92.4% of participants considered that violence has increased a lot in Cuba, 42% said they had been aware of 10 or more violent crimes in the last six months, and almost half said that a direct family member or close person was a victim of one of these events. In addition, 84% of those who responded have changed their routines for fear of the insecurity they perceive, including modifications in their daily routes, hiding their valuables and avoiding carrying cash with them.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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