By María Eugenia Ludueña. Authorities are investigating whether the body found yesterday in the backyard of a house on 9 de Julio Street, number 1500, in San Miguel de Tucumán, is that of a young transgender woman who has been missing for nine days. However, sources connected to the investigation confirmed to Presentes that there is no firm information regarding the victim's identity. The case is being handled by the Seventh District Prosecutor's Office, under the direction of Arnaldo Suasnabar. The body was found yesterday at a house in Villa Alem, a neighborhood in the southern part of the provincial capital, 25 blocks from the Government House. The house is usually unoccupied, but its owners visit it periodically for maintenance. Yesterday, around midday, the owners went to the house and, in the backyard, in an area of ​​tall grass, found a dismembered body and notified the police. "The body was in an advanced state of decomposition and partially dismembered," Presentes was informed. At the moment, there are no detainees. One of the hypotheses of the investigation—which has not been confirmed so far and is only being considered because a missing person report was filed, not based on any specific information—is to determine through DNA testing whether the body is that of Cynthia Moreira, a young trans woman last seen more than nine days ago. The missing person report was filed by a colleague, who, like Cynthia, is involved in sex work—due to a lack of inclusion policies—in the Crisóstomo Alvarez area, Agostina, on February 14 at Police Station 2, another source confirmed to Presentes. Her family and friends have been searching for her for days. But for now, the family does not want to speak publicly. This is the photo that Cynthia Moreira's family, the missing young trans woman, shared on Facebook in an effort to locate her. Today, following the publication of a news report in the Tucumán newspaper La Gaceta stating that the body could be that of Cynthia, one of Cynthia's sisters wrote this message: "To all of Cynthia's family and friends: the body is unrecognizable. Only DNA testing can confirm that it is my sister. The people handling the case told me that even they don't know it's Cynthia, so how could La Gaceta know?" "We still don't know who the murdered person is. They say it's a trans girl, but we don't know for sure. I know Cynthia, and we're waiting for her to be found. What we do know is that girls in Tucumán are constantly in danger. Besides feeling the anguish of being killed, of friends and acquaintances dying, being trans means we're afraid to go out on the street, sometimes even to go downtown to run an errand. I don't know if I'll ever come back." “I’m scared, and it’s not just a feeling, it’s reality: they’re killing us, they’re destroying our bodies and our lives,” Mahia Moyano, an activist with LOTO (Organized Trans Freedom and Pride), told Presentes. “We have to be very careful with the information that’s published, because lately things that aren’t true are being spread,” another LOTO activist, Gabriela de la Rosa, told Presentes. She was referring to some of the news stories that circulated in recent weeks in media outlets in the province of Tucumán, stigmatizing trans people. But also to other news stories, such as the discovery of an incinerated body in Villa Alem belonging to a woman over 40, which, based on rumors, ended up being linked to the other story that came to light yesterday about the discovery of a dismembered body. LOTO activists denied that there are territorial conflicts among them over the area of ​​sex work, as some local media outlets reported. “The media is giving out false information.” “They continue to stigmatize trans women, portraying them as violent, drug addicts, and criminals. Like what happened with Flor de V. Some media outlets continue to promote hatred and transphobia, whether consciously or not, and the State doesn't fine or punish them,” says Gabriela de la Rosa. “We have laws that, in theory, protect us, but in practice, dignified treatment is still lacking for trans people in the health, education, and justice systems. In Tucumán, the trans employment quota was shelved, as if nothing had happened.”

Other lines of research

Another line of investigation is exploring whether the murder of the person found or Cynthia's disappearance is related to the attack on Natasha Banegas, a 22-year-old trans woman, who was beaten one day and shot another by two men on a motorcycle at the corner of Crisóstomo Álvarez and Moreno streets, part of the so-called "red-light district" in San Miguel de Tucumán. This is the same area where Cynthia worked.

[READ MORE: Trans woman shot in Tucumán: it's the second attack she suffered in 72 hours]

Tucumán is one of the most violent provinces in the country for trans people. The LOTO organization was formed after the transvesticide of Ayelén Gómez, The murder took place in August 2017. Her body was found under the stands of the Lawn Tennis Club before a rugby match. Ayelen had previously reported police officers for raping her. In January in Tucumán, another trans woman was brutally murdered: Lourdes Reinoso.

[#Tucumán “We demand justice for all: not one more trans woman, we want to live”]]

In response to the wave of violence they have been experiencing in various forms, trans people, LOTO, and other organizations marched on February 7th to say "Enough with transvesticide and transfemicide," and to demand compliance with the Gender Identity Law and a trans employment quota law. They are also preparing to march on March 8th, the day of the Feminist Strike, adding "Not One Less" to the slogan "Not One Less Trans Woman."

[READ MORE: March in Tucumán: “Without trans women there is no Ni Una Menos”]]

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