Cuba Archive - Case 3865

Case ID: 3865

Title: N/A

First name: Miguel Ángel Fermín

Last name: Vargas Bastos

Suffix: N/A

Aliases: N/A

Name also reported as: N/A

Age: 19

Gender: Male

Date of Birth: Day:13 / Month:6 / Year:1981

Civil Status: Unknown

Date of death/disappearance: Day:21 / Month:10 / Year:2002

Citizenship: N/A

Last known address: N/A

Last known city: Havana

Last known province-TOD: Ciudad de La Habana

Last known province current: Ciudad de La Habana

Last known country: Cuba

Location death-address: N/A

Location of death - city: Havana

Location of death province - at TOD: Ciudad de La Habana

Location of death province - current: Ciudad de La Habana

Location of death - country: Cuba

Trial held?: N/A

Docket Number: N/A

Sentence details: N/A

Arrest or detention at time of death: N/A

Date of arrest: N/A

Imprisoned/Detained: Location: N/A

How long imprisoned/detained: N/A

Death attributed to: Castro regime

Death attribution detail: N/A

Associated Event: Body tampering/missing parts/family denied remains

Case description:

Miguel Angel arrived in Havana at age 17 with a Cuban government scholarship to study medicine. According to his family, he had lent his passport to Cuban friends in the government for $100 and they had used it to illegally purchase and sell automobiles for foreigners.  He denounced this to authorities and  school officials and started to be followed, watched and, according to his family, even injected with psychotropic drugs. He had asked, unsuccessfully, to be sent back home to Bolivia three months before his death and his life was threatened three days before his death. He was last seen on his way to an interrogation center, where he had been summoned. Cuban authorities notified the family he had died in a traffic accident. His mother traveled to Cuba and found the body covered in bruises and wounds, evidence of beatings and torture. When the body was transported back to Bolivia, an autopsy revealed it was stuffed with cotton and that 18 internal organs had been removed including the tongue.
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Miguel Ángel llegó a La Habana a los 17 años con una beca del gobierno cubano para estudiar medicina. Según su familia, había prestado su pasaporte a amigos cubanos en el gobierno por $ 100 y lo habían utilizado para comprar y vender ilegalmente automóviles para extranjeros. El lo denunció a las autoridades y funcionarios escolares y comenzó a ser seguido, vigilado y, según su familia, incluso inyectado con psicofármacos. Había pedido, sin éxito, que lo enviaran de regreso a Bolivia tres meses antes de su muerte y su vida fue amenazada tres días antes de morir. Fue visto por última vez camino a un centro de interrogatorios, donde lo habían citado. Las autoridades cubanas notificaron a la familia que había muerto en un accidente de tráfico. Su madre viajó a Cuba y encontró el cuerpo cubierto de magulladuras y heridas, evidencia de palizas y torturas. Cuando el cuerpo fue transportado de regreso a Bolivia, una autopsia reveló que estaba relleno de algodón y que se habían extraído 18 órganos internos, incluida la lengua.

Sources: Conflict of Evidence:

Violation Status: Reported: Highly likely / Highly reliable source(s)

Cause of Death: - Extrajudicial killing

Occupations: - Not in the labor force

External Files: N/A

Relatives in Archive: N/A

Victim Type: - Other

Affiliations: N/A

Other Victims Same Event: N/A

Case Record - Miguel Ángel Fermín Vargas Bastos