The death of Yenifer Vargas, who was in tenth grade, is the 29th femicide this year in Cuba
14ymedio, Havana, 14 August 2024 — Yenifer Vargas Gómez, just 16 years old, was murdered by her ex-partner this Tuesday in Santiago de Cuba. The incident was first reported by independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta and hours later was confirmed by the independent platform Yo Sí Te Creo en Cuba.
According to Mayeta, the attacker broke into the house where the young woman lived with her grandmother, in the Nuevo Vista Alegre neighborhood, around noon, and stabbed her. Vargas was sent to the Frank País García Teaching Polyclinic and then transferred to the Dr. Antonio María Béguez César Hospital, where she was in intensive care for injuries to different parts of her body, including her head. Finally, at around eight in the evening, she died.
The attacker, identified as Fabio Lamar, who fled to his aunt’s house in the town of San Juan after attacking the teenager, was arrested on Tuesday afternoon. The capture was made possible thanks to neighbors who alerted the authorities about his whereabouts. He is currently in police custody.
Lamar had already threatened Vargas. The police ignored him despite the numerous times the threats were reported. The last time was a month ago.
According to a relative of the young woman who spoke with Mayeta, Lamar had already threatened Vargas. The police ignored the threats despite the multiple times they were reported. The last time was a month ago: “We went to Micro 9, the complaint was filed for the threats; he said he was going to kill her. The police did not act or do anything. My husband even went to the police and the complaint that was filed never appeared,” said a relative of Vargas.
The murder of Vargas, who was in the tenth grade at the Rafael María de Mendive y Daumy Pre-University Institute, is the 29th femicide this year in the country, according to records kept by 14ymedio. Between June and July alone, there were seven cases: in Las Tunas, Mayabeque, Pinar del Río, Havana, Holguín, Isla de la Juventud and Ciego de Ávila.
Between June and July alone, there were seven cases: in Las Tunas, Mayabeque, Pinar del Río, Havana, Holguín, Isla de la Juventud and Ciego de Ávila
Although there is no official figure on deaths due to homicidal violence against women in Cuba, the number of femicide cases that were tried in 2023 was revealed. The Cuban Observatory on Gender Equality, dependent on the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), published on August 2 that last year there were 110 trials for femicide in Cuba, six times more than in 2022, when 18 were counted.
The 110 cases give a rate of 2.16 femicides per 100,000 women. The figure places the island as the sixth country in the region with the highest number, according to the records of sexist murders from the Gender Equality Observatory of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) for 2022, the latest year available.
In the absence of information, independent platforms and media have kept a record of femicides. In 2023 alone, 87 were reported, while, according to a count by the Observatory of the Cuban feminist magazine Alas Tensas, 238 cases have been recorded in Cuba from 2019 to July 2024.
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