Havana/The official Matanzas press reported the death of Roberto Carlos Suárez Machado, a two -year -old boy, after being admitted to the hospital for medical complications derived from an alleged case of abuse. The mother, identified with the initials AM, 18, and the stepfather – responsible for the last aggression caused by death – were arrested by the Interior Ministry.
“After confirming their responsibility in the abuse that caused the death of the minor this Saturday, July 19, both face criminal homicide,” the local newspaper published on Sunday, the local newspaper published on Sunday, Girón. He also added that Interior discovered that both physically abused the child “often” and will remain detained until the investigation ends and can be accused in front of a court.
This case “does not reflect the daily life of Cuban society,” the ministry defended in words to Girónand recalled that the Island Criminal Code provides severe sanctions for those who commit crimes against minors
Previously, Girón He interviewed the director of the Eliseo Noel Caamaño Pediatric Hospital, where the child had been admitted since July 16. According to Anaelis Santana Álvarez, “a neighbor who saw the little boy very numb, with a bad appearance, worried insists the mother of taking him to the hospital, who said he was in that state of lethargy for about 24 hours.”
After entering the pediatric around noon “in very bad conditions”, fever, difficulty breathing and sleepiness of the child made doctors think that it was a septic shock (due to an infection) and was immediately transferred to intensive therapy. From the beginning, however, the doctor says that “trauma stigmas were detected in the body” and “several bruises.”
Along with the entire medical process, due to the “signs of violence” the hospital also contacted the care services of the Ministry of Interior
“The evolution in the therapy was not satisfactory despite all the things that were done. It was evaluated by the surgery service, which before the child’s distended abdomen, indicated several studies, including ultrasound and X -rays, which help determine a possible perforation. Enter the operating room and when they open abdomen then they see that they had several perforations. They intervened it surgically, but despite everything they did. It came out unstable and stability was never achieved with him, ”he explains.
Along with the entire medical process, due to the “signs of violence” the hospital also contacted the care services of the Ministry of Interior, who “took their actions” – what suggests, without the ruling clarify, a possible detention of the mother.
“We are witnesses by trade and when there are stigmas that there can be a case of child abuse, it is duty to call the relevant institutions, in this case attention to minors, who is in charge of the investigative part. The doctors report what is displayed according to the clinic of the patient who arrives. In this case, the little boy did have some bruises,” said Santana, who gave the death time of the infant: 6:05 July.
The official press refrained from offering more information about the stepfather and the mother, who had the child also being minor, which says a lot about the situation of teenage pregnancies on the island and the condition in which, many times without advice or family support, women are forced to raise their children in precarious conditions. These types of cases have increased in recent years. In 2023, 18.9% of births on the island corresponded to women between 12 and 19 years.
The stir in social networks for the child’s death has also caused known, neighbors or witnesses spreading the case. According to these testimonies, the family lives in the cast of Naranjal Norte, the child’s stepfather is 25 years old and the father resides abroad.
On Friday, one day before the child’s death, Parliament announced the entry into force of the Childhood, Administration and Youth Code
On Friday, one day before the child’s death, Parliament announced the entry into force of the Code of Children, Adolescents and Youth that, according to the official press itself, “focuses on guaranteeing protective and insurance environments in all areas of life: home, school, communities and the digital environment.” However, the deaths of several minors have marked the island this 2025.
In collective memory it is The murder of Orlis Danielaa nine -year -old girl in the Grito de Yara community (Granma) on June 20 at the hands of a neighbor. The child had already been orphaned after her mother was a victim of femicide in 2024. Then, independent observatories claimed the lack of attention and protection by the state of Daniela and her four brothers – also minors – who even witnessed the body of her mother.
Also, in February of this year, after a strong temporal that flooded the capital, the island was shocked by The drowning of Jonathan Oliva12 years, sucked by a sewer in the Luyanó neighborhood. His body was found days later lifeless.
While the official speech remembered that families are the main responsible for their children, dozens of Cubans criticized the poor state of the Havana sewerage system, which among clusters of garbage that caught drains and sewers, and those that, on the contrary, had no lid, led to that in some areas the accumulated water exceeded the subway.
