Havana/A fight between two teenagers in Matanzas ended with the death of Malany, a 17-year-old minor, during the early hours of last Sunday. The attack was confirmed this Tuesday by the Alas Tensas Observatory, although it had been reported by communicator Christian Arbolaez days before.
According to these testimonies, the confrontation began hours as an argument and ended in an attack with a knife by a 14-year-old girl, whose name is not known. The conflict began in the José Antonio Echeverría park, in Cárdenas, and escalated until it moved to the house where Malany lived, on the corner of Obispo and Amistad, near the old Acopio, in the community of Fundificación.
Inside the house, both young women confronted each other again and Malany hit the other minor with a pipe. This caused both of them to go out into the street again, where the fight continued. There, the younger of the two, according to neighbors’ testimonies, injured Malany with a knife. The most serious injury was to the neck, although injuries to the back were also reported.
Malany’s father helped his daughter and carried her in his arms
Malany’s father helped his daughter and carried her in his arms while he looked for a way to transfer her to a medical center, according to testimonies collected by Arbolaez. He was joined by neighbors who also tried to urgently transfer her to a medical center, but, in the midst of a blackout, difficulties communicating and the lack of immediate access to an ambulance, care became complicated.
Shortly after they finally achieved transport, Malany died in his father’s arms before receiving medical assistance.
In the morning, authorities detained the attacker in a hospital and she remains in custody while investigations continue to clarify the facts.
“The case revives concern about the increase in youth violence in Cuba and the limitations that many families face in accessing emergency services in critical situations. It also occurs in a context marked by complaints about the deterioration of citizen security, the crisis of public services and the lack of health resources,” said the Alas Tensas Observatory in a position on the aggression.
The country barely has 39.6% of the ambulances necessary to attend to different medical emergencies
The country barely has 39.6% of ambulances needed to attend to different medical emergencies, according to figures from the Ministry of Public Health itself, in 2023. Things have not changed since then. Even last February, Cuba’s Minister of Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda, acknowledged in an interview with the AP agency that the health system is “on the verge of collapse.”
The case also occurs in a scenario of increasing violence and insecurity in Cuba. The Cuban Citizen Audit Observatory documented 2,833 crimes in 2025, which represents an increase of 115.11% compared to 2024 (1,317 reports) and an increase of 336.58% compared to 2023 (649). “These figures, obtained through a systematic process of verification and triangulation of public sources, directly contradict the official narrative about a supposed decrease in crime in the country,” Ocac stated in its report published at the beginning of this year.
Although the reported homicides show a slight decrease compared to previous years, the report highlights that crime in Cuba is growing in frequency, diversifying and becoming socially more harmful, with a sustained increase in the number of victims and people involved in criminal acts, indicated the organization that, during the first half of last year, recorded 63 murders, with victims that include women, minors and the elderly, including 16 femicides.
