MIAMI.- The beginning of 2025 in Cuba has started with a tragic act of violence. A 31-year-old young man, identified as Elio Delis Hardy, was murdered in the early hours of January 1 in the ‘El Salao’ neighborhood, in Santiago de Cuba, as reported the independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta through social networks and corroborated Cubanet with local sources.
“You go out into the street with fear because anywhere you look for a problem. Now they have left a small child without a father and a devastated family,” an acquaintance of the victim told Cubanet.
The crime, which marks the first publicly reported homicide in the eastern city this year, occurred in a building in the area known as Micro II. According to the information available, Delis Hardy was stabbed by a man who was accompanied by other young people from the area. Although the exact reason for the attack has not yet been clarified, relatives suggest that the conflict could be related to the sale of a mobile phone, Mayeta said.
Elio Delis Hardy had a child yeseight years
The rise of violence in Cuba: a growing phenomenon
In the past, the Island kept the official figures silent violent crime rates and stood out as one of the least dangerous countries in the Western Hemisphere. However, factors such as the economic crisis, the scarcity of basic resources and the weakening of the social fabric have contributed to the increase in crimes such as violent robberies and murders.
In Cuba, which until 2019 had reported some of the lowest violent crime rates in the Western Hemisphere, things are changing. Not only is there an increase in violence, documented through independent journalism and even some official data; but it is increasingly lethal and more misogynistic.
a special published by Cubanet in 2024, it analyzed acts of violence and citizen insecurity in the 15 provinces of the country, in rural and urban areas; in public spaces, homes and in state institutions. In the case of femicides, the highest incidence occurred in the homes of the victims themselves (more than 80 percent). On the contrary, in the case of murders of men, they occurred mainly in public spaces (38.78%), as occurred with Delis.
Of the 187 murders that we verified based on citizen complaints from across the country, 27 were related to robberies.
Although the increase in violence is a reality, government officials and the official press insisted on representing that crime in Cuba is a problem of “perception” and campaigns by “enemies of the Revolution.”
