Havana/The Cuban Niyu del Carmen López Morales was admitted to a hospital in Havana after being attacked with blows and acid last Friday by her ex-partner. The news, first reported by the Nio Reporting a crime page, was confirmed by the woman, who, in response to a post of her case published by La Tijera, indicated that same day at night that she was “about” to undergo hand surgery because she had “many blows and serious life-threatening injuries.”
Niyu del Carmen López, who presents herself as an entrepreneur on social networks, was kidnapped and taken to a property in the La Virgen del Camino area, in the Cuban capital. According to the first report, the woman was tied, gagged, beaten and attacked with acid. That attack left him with a severe injury to one of his eyes, which was confirmed in his message.
She remained held there until neighbors heard her screams. When they tried to communicate with the aggressor and did not receive a response, they began to insist on calling the Police, who shortly after had to enter by force. Upon entering, they found López Morales injured. “The Police didn’t take long to arrive and they rescued me in time. Thank you all and to God,” he added in that response, which had more than 100 interactions.
“The Police didn’t take long to arrive and they rescued me in time. Thank you all and to God”
In your post He also pointed out that his aggressor was Javier Santiago Valdivie, who, according to testimonies collected by Nio Reporting a crime, “had already previously shown violent behavior.” For now, the attacker is detained.
The use of acid against women is an extreme manifestation of gender violence and a growing problem in Latin America, especially in Mexico, where several cases have gained visibility and generated legal reforms, such as considering this type of attacks as attempted feminicide in several states of the country. This type of aggression seeks to permanently damage the physical and psychological integrity of the victim, often with the intention of disfiguring their face and body for life.
Worldwide, according to the International Acid Survivors Foundation (Asti), based in the United Kingdom, there are at least 1,500 attacks with this type of substance per year, in which more than 80% of the victims are women.
This form of sexist violence is added to those that have been recorded on the Island in recent years. In the case of femicides, from 2019 to date at least 302 casesall of them reported by independent organizations and media, due to the lack of an official record by the authorities. This year alone there are 37 – in the count carried out by 14ymedio–, of which in 28 it was possible to document that the aggressors were the partner or ex-partner of the victims.
Worldwide, according to the International Acid Survivors Foundation (Asti), there are at least 1,500 attacks with this type of substance per year.
Last year, of the 56 femicides documented by Alas Tensas and Yo Sí Te Creo in Cuba, 37.5% of the cases (21) took place in the victim’s home and 17.9% (10) in homes shared with the aggressor, which adds up to 55.4%, which is why, on many occasions, the home has become the most dangerous environment for many women.
Of that total, 64.3% of the femicides were committed with a knife, although deaths from asphyxiation (14.3%), throat cutting (8.9%) and beatings (5.4%) were also reported.
At the regional level, Cuba was the fourth country with the highest rate of femicides in Latin America in 2024, a position it shares with Puerto Rico and Bolivia, with 1.4 murders per 100,000 women, which puts the Island in a worse situation than countries such as Mexico, Ecuador, Argentina or Chile, despite the under-reporting of official data.
