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Alas Tensas raises to 61 the femicides it documents in Cuba in 2026 after Pinar del Río killing
The independent observatory confirmed the killing of Yarielys Gigato Medina, a mother of three, on October 30 at a home on the Viñales road, according to 14ymedio, Infobae and Cubanet.
The Alas Tensas Gender Observatory confirmed the femicide of Yarielys Gigato Medina, killed on Friday, October 30, at her home on the Viñales road in Pinar del Río. With that case, the platform raised to 61 the number of gender-based killings it counts in Cuba so far in 2026, according to 14ymedio and Infobae.
The sources differ on some details: 14ymedio places the home in the Guanajera neighbourhood of the municipality of Pinar del Río, while Infobae locates it in the municipality of Viñales, at kilometer two and a half of that road. The victim's age appears as 34 or 36 in 14ymedio, which attributes the discrepancy to its source, and as 36 in Infobae.
Ileana Álvarez, director of Alas Tensas, told 14ymedio that Gigato Medina 'was violently beaten with a blunt object' and that, according to sources close to the case, 'she was also attacked with a bladed weapon.' 'We are talking about an attack of harrowing cruelty,' she added. The victim leaves two girls and a boy.
The case was first reported by independent journalist Niover Licea, who identified the alleged killer and said he was a former partner of the victim who turned himself in to the authorities, according to 14ymedio. Infobae noted that the observatory's report did not clarify whether the accused was detained or whether a formal investigation is under way.
Besides the 61 femicides, Alas Tensas said it had identified 38 attempted femicides and two killings of men in contexts of femicidal violence, a tally Cubanet also attributes to the observatory. The organization has open investigations into another 11 possible femicides and 18 attempts from 2026, and into 12 possible femicides from 2025.
14ymedio clarifies that its own count makes Gigato Medina the 57th victim of gender violence in Cuba this year, because Alas Tensas includes in its register killings of women in circumstances not linked to gender violence. The observatory puts at least 377 femicides independently documented since 2019, and calls for femicide to be codified as a crime and for shelters for women at risk to be opened.
Sources: 14ymedio · Infobae · Cubanet
Data updated: 2026-11-02T19:00:00.000Z