Mercedes Vasallo Herrera, 51, is the most recent victim of femicide in Cuba, according to the unofficial count kept by the Cuban Women’s Network. His activists Marthadela Tamayo and Annia Zamora have warned of the discovery of his body this Saturday, February 11, in the town of Carlos Rojas, in Jovellanos (Matanzas).
The victim, who was found by his grandson under the bed, was killed with a knife and had a strong blow to the head, according to Tamayo on his Facebook profile. The activist has added that the alleged murderer, detained by the authorities, is the husband of the victim, buried this Sunday morning in the local cemetery.
With Vasallo, the number of femicide victims recorded so far this year on the Island increases to ten, a number that could be higher, since there is no official count. Last Friday, when the murder of two more women became known, the official press published an extensive note in which, among many other things, it wondered if there really were more victims or is it that now the cases are being made known, an inexplicable unknown. , since the Ministry of the Interior is the only body that has strict control of all violent deaths that occur in the country.
The activist has added that the alleged murderer, detained by the authorities, is the husband of the victim, buried this Sunday morning in the local cemetery
The ruling party has kept the statistics of murders, robberies or violence of all kinds hidden for decades on the Island, preventing the visibility of these problems, as well as drawing their map and addressing the solutions.
The associations Red Feminina de Cuba and Yo Sí Te Creo in Cuba have been monitoring femicides since 2019, which is allowing these cases to be brought to light, some of which reveal gross negligence by the authorities, such as that of neisa lopez, 29, allegedly murdered by a former police officer convicted of killing his wife and attacking his sister-in-law. The man was on probation for being a cancer patient and stabbed the young woman, who was his nurse.
The previous femicide to that occurred last February 3 in Camalote, Camagüey, a fact that generated great commotion among Cubans due to the conditions and the escalation of violence in the province. Leidy Bacallao Santana, 17, sought refuge in the police station after threats from her ex-partner, Elesvan Hidalgo, a 50-year-old man, but he chased her and ended up killing her with a machete in the police unit.
The alarm generated by the multiple known femicides on the island in barely a month has reactivated the request of the Women’s Network in Cuba to promote a comprehensive law against sexist violence. The group ensures that it is essential to classify the crime or consider it as an aggravating circumstance, but also that there are transversal measures that involve police officers, judges, communicators, health workers or educators in raising awareness of this specific phenomenon.
In addition, they consider that a transparent record of the victims should be kept and solutions also provided for the relatives, particularly minor children of the murdered. In the last three years, 102 women have died as victims of male violence in Cuba.
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