Cuba Archive - Case 393

Case ID: 393

Title: Sargento de Segunda

First name: Juan José

Last name: Torres Martínez

Suffix: N/A

Aliases: El Contento

Name also reported as: Juan José Torre Martínez

Age: 31

Gender: Male

Date of Birth: Day:13 / Month:2 / Year:1928

Civil Status: Unknown

Date of death/disappearance: Day:12 / Month:1 / Year:1959

Citizenship: Cuba

Last known address: Calle 14 #11

Last known city: Santiago de Cuba

Last known province-TOD: Oriente

Last known province current: Santiago de Cuba

Last known country: Cuba

Location death-address: San Juan Hill

Location of death - city: Santiago de Cuba

Location of death province - at TOD: Oriente

Location of death province - current: Santiago de Cuba

Location of death - country: Cuba

Trial held?: Yes

Docket Number: N/A

Sentence details: N/A

Arrest or detention at time of death: Yes

Date of arrest: Day:1 / Month:1 / Year:1959

Imprisoned/Detained: Location: Convent Alto Oficio

How long imprisoned/detained: 12 days

Death attributed to: Castro regime

Death attribution detail: Raul Castro

Associated Event: 1959 San Juan Hill Massacre

Case description:

Officer of the Armed Forces accused of assassinating Enrique Ladrón de Guevara together with Lt. Enrique Despaigne. He lived in Santiago with his family. Jan. 1st, 1959, after Gen. Batista fled the country, he went to his military barracks. The officers argued over surrendering and finally decided to do so and hand over the barracks and their arms to Raul Castro, who guaranteed their safety. They were, instead, taken prisoner and taken to a convent in Santiago, where they remained under arrest. On January 13th, his wife and son went for a visit. When they arrived, they were told he had been executed. His body was not returned and they were not told where he had been buried. They surmised it was at San Juan Hill, since there was a military unit there and the place was guarded. He left a wife, a 5 year old son and a 1 year old daughter. The family received a meager government pension of $15 Cuban pesos a month for years.  Raul Castro had vowed to take revenge on Sgt. Torres after the attack on the Moncada Barracks and for his presence at the Uvero Barracks in the Sierra Maestra, where he had been captured injured and released as part of a prisoner exchange.
He was executed without a trial by order of Raúl Castro just days after the triumph of the Revolution with 70 other members of the armed forces, police, and Batista paramilitaries. Only four had been subjected to a nighttime 4-hour trial lacking due process. They were all taken that same night to the Madrevieja Shooting Practice Field, at San Juan Hill, lined up in pairs in front of a large ditch dug up earlier that day, and shot by a firing squad. The massacre took place from the early morning hours of January 12th into the morning. The mass grave was then filled with a bulldozer and, according to witness reports, at least one of the victims was buried alive. In September 1963, torrential rains from Hurricane Flora unearthed the bodies from their shallow grave; they were placed in cement casings and thrown into the Bartlett Deep off the coast of Oriente province.
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Oficial de las Fuerzas Armadas acusado del asesinato de Enrique Ladrón de Guevara junto con el Teniente Despaigne. Vivía en Santiago de Cuba con su familia. El 1 de enero de 1959, después de que el general Batista huyó del país, fue a su cuartel militar. Los oficiales discutieron sobre la rendición y finalmente decidieron hacerlo y entregar los barracones y sus armas a Raúl Castro, quien garantizó su seguridad. En cambio, fueron tomados prisioneros y llevados a un convento en Santiago, donde permanecieron bajo arresto. El 13 de enero, su esposa e hijo fueron de visita. Cuando llegaron, les dijeron que había sido ejecutado. Su cuerpo no fue devuelto y no se les dijo si había sido enterrado. Dejó una esposa, un hijo de 5 años y una hija de 1 año. La familia recibió una exigua pensión gubernamental de $ 15 pesos cubanos al mes durante años. Raúl Castro había prometido vengarse del sargento. Torres después del ataque al Cuartel Moncada, donde había estado presente y su presencia en el Cuartel Uvero en la Sierra Maestra, donde fue capturado herido y liberado como parte de un intercambio de prisioneros.
Fue ejecutado por orden de Raúl Castro con 70 otros miembros de las fuerzas armadas, la policía y paramilitares de Batista. Sólo cuatro habían tenido un juicio sumario sin debido proceso de ley y el resto ni siquiera eso. Esa misma noche todos fueron ejecutados en pares  por un pelotón de fusilamiento frente a una gran zanja cavada ese mismo día en al Campo de Prácticas de Tiro de Madrevieja, Loma de San Juan. La masacre comenzó de madrugada el 12 de enero y continúo hasta la mañana. Luego, la excavadora llenó de tierra la fosa y, según testigos, al menos una de las víctimas fue enterrada con vida. En septiembre 1963, las lluvias torrenciales del huracán Flora desenterraron los cadáveres, por lo que fueron colocados en carcasas de cemento y arrojados a la Fosa de Bartlett en la costa sur de la provincia de Oriente.

Sources:

Testimony of son, Memorial Cubano, Miami, February 8, 2009.  Written testimony of son, 1/12/2011. Telephone testimony of son 4/7/2011. Copy of death certificate. U.S. Department of State Foreign Service Dispatch No. 82, February 19, 1959, p. 1. U.S. Department of State, Foreign Service Dispatch No. 751, January 20, 1959, p. 4.  Ejecutados en Santiago de Cuba 68 militares y masferreristas, Revolución, La Habana, Jan. 14, 1959, p. 6.  Justicia revolucionaria - Cuatro Fusilamientos en Santiago de Cuba, Revolución, Jan. 13, 1959. Jorge Bez Chabebe, Jorge, Dios me hizo cura, Jul. 2014, p. 49-53.  Luis González-Lalondry, Masacre en Santiago, Jan. 12, 2014, https://libertadusa.com/2014/01/masacre-en-santiago-los-crimenes-de-raul-castro/. Cuba, The vengeful visionary, Time Magazine. Jan. 26, 1959. José Alvarez, Los fusilamientos de la Loma de San Juan, Cubanet, Jan. 16, 2019.  Masacre de la Loma de San Juan, Jan. 12, 2014, https://todoporcuba.wordpress.com, 2014/01/12/masacre-de-loma-de-san-juan-enero-12-1959/.  Ruíz, 1965, p. 244. Beruvides, 1993, p. 180. Cuban American National Foundation, Quilt of Fidel Castro's Genocide, 1994. WAQI-Radio Mambí, p. 5. Circuito Sur, July 2002, p. 84.

Conflict of Evidence:

Violation Status: Confirmed with primary source(s)

Cause of Death: - Execution: by firing squad

Occupations: - Military Specific Occupations

External Files: N/A

Relatives in Archive: N/A

Victim Type: - Armed Forces: served Batista government

Affiliations: N/A

Other Victims Same Event: N/A

Case Record - Juan José Torres Martínez