Mother of four girls murdered in Camagüey: partner arrested following crime
Rachel García González, aged 27, was murdered on 28 September in Vertientes, Camagüey. Her partner was detained as the suspected perpetrator.
Femicide in Vertientes raises confirmed cases to 55 in Cuba in 2026
Rachel García González, a Cuban woman aged 27 and mother of four school-aged girls, was murdered on Sunday 28 September in her home in the La Iglesia neighbourhood, in the Los Ángeles community, Vertientes municipality, Camagüey. According to periodicocubano.com, the victim's partner was detained as the suspected perpetrator of the crime.
García González worked as a domestic worker. Two of her four daughters were twins. According to information gathered by the Gender Observatory of Alas Tensas (OGAT), none of the minors had a filial link with the man indicated for the murder.
Residents of the area indicated that during the days prior to the crime there were disputes between the couple. The observatory added that the house where the incident occurred had been recently built by the suspect.
"Our condolences reach her four young daughters who survive her, with no connection to the alleged perpetrator, as well as other family members and close persons who mourn her premature and preventable loss," OGAT stated when confirming the case.
García González's death occurred three days after another similar crime. Diddianys Barreto Palmero, aged 34, died in Ceballos, Ciego de Ávila, allegedly at the hands of her ex-partner, who according to independent feminist platforms took his own life subsequently. Barreto Palmero left two young daughters.
Also recorded in September was the case of Yusinay Capetillo Martínez, aged 41, murdered on the 19th of that month in Santos Suárez, Havana, during a power outage. Independent observatories attributed the crime to her ex-son-in-law.
With García González's murder, OGAT raised the number of confirmed femicides in Cuba between January and 30 September 2026 to 55, a figure that already exceeds the 49 cases documented throughout 2025. To this are added 27 attempted femicides and two murders of men that occurred in contexts linked to femicidal violence. The observatory is investigating 12 deaths that could be classified as femicides, as well as 11 attempted cases pending verification.
The Cuban Penal Code, in force since 2022, does not recognise femicide as an autonomous criminal offence. Independent organisations and activists have called for years for its specific incorporation, along with broader mechanisms for prevention and protection for women at risk.
The Cuban government maintains that it applies a zero-tolerance policy towards gender-based violence, but independent observatories question the scarce availability of official statistics and demand comprehensive legislation that allows risks to be identified, victims to be protected, and the true scale of the problem to be made transparent.
Faced with difficulties in verifying these facts within the country, OGAT maintains an enabled anonymous form to receive reports of possible femicides and submit them to a subsequent process of investigation and confirmation.
Source: Google News CU — Crime