CDMX, Mexico. – CubaNet confirmed this Thursday the murders of Arisdani Viamontes Tomás in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Camagüey; and Neisa López Vargas, in Bayamo, Granma. With these two crimes, there are nine registered femicides in Cuba so far this year.
Neisa López, who is survived by two children aged eight and four, was murdered in the vicinity of her home around 6:00 am on January 11. Her perpetrator, as she was able to confirm CubaNet with his family, he is an ex-policeman who had previously killed his wife and attacked his sister-in-law. He was currently on probation for being a cancer patient.
López Vargas, 29, without knowing this background, agreed to work as a care nurse for him. However, once she learned of the violent crimes her patient had committed, she resigned, which was not accepted by the 66-year-old killer.
“He started threatening her and following her on the street. The day he killed her, he was hiding near her house, waiting for him to return from her new job, ”he confirmed to CubaNet Raquel del Toro, cousin of the victim.
López Vargas had filed a complaint against his perpetrator in the Municipal Unit of the PNR in Bayamo, months before. “She accused him of harassment and nothing happened, as always,” his stepmother, Lien Alvarado, explained on Facebook. The authorities only arrested the perpetrator after he stabbed the young woman 17 times, a few meters from where her children and her husband were.
Another femicide in Camagüey
Arisdani Viamontes Tomás, 43, was reportedly murdered by her husband Yisney López in the house where they both lived on January 27.
Her victimizer killed her with a knife, according to a relative who contacted CubaNet and asked to protect his identity. Until now, the murder had not been reported by independent media or observatories.
“She did not want to continue with him and asked for a divorce. That’s why he killed her after 20 years of marriage. Men think they own women and can do whatever they want,” lamented the source.
After attacking her, López fled but was arrested that same day by police officers. He is currently in custody under investigation process.
Viamontes is survived by a 19-year-old daughter, the result of her relationship with her victimizer, who found her mother’s lifeless body on her bed.
“It’s killing us”
On February 4, the 17-year-old teenager Leidy Cod she was killed with a machete by Elesbán Hidalgo, a 50-year-old man with whom she had a “relationship” since she was 14. The crime occurred in front of several law enforcement officers, at the Camalote Popular Council police station, in Camagüey.
At the beginning of this week, several Cuban civil society organizations demanded that the regime declare a state of emergency in the country, due to the increase in gender violence.
“They are killing us because we lack protocols and effective prevention mechanisms in Cuba, because we do not have access to justice: problems persist in complying with restraining orders and receiving complaints,” the feminist platform stressed. I do believe you in Cuba.
The first known femicide of 2023 was reported on January 5, when a police officer shot and killed his ex-partner in Guantanamo.
Then, on January 26, Arletis Almarales Alberteris, 40, a physiotherapist at a nursing home in San Germán, Holguín, was fatally attacked by her ex-partner on the public highway. Four days later, the lifeless body of Yailanis Lázara Pérez Camacho, 36, a resident of the city of Matanzas, was found.
On January 29, the 18-year-old girl was reported missing Yoilen Acosta Torriente, in the municipality of Cruces, Cienfuegos. On February 1, YoSíTeCreo in Cuba confirmed the discovery of his body.
Also in January the femicide of Villa Clara was confirmed Yeniset Rojas Perezwho spent a year missing and who is survived by a minor daughter.
