Cuba Archive - Case 5454

Case ID: 5454

Title: N/A

First name: Ernesto

Last name: Díaz Madruga

Suffix: N/A

Aliases: N/A

Name also reported as: Lázaro Ernesto Díaz Madruga, Claro Ernesto Díaz Madruga, Armando Ernesto Madruga, Ernesto Madruga Armando, Armando Madrugas

Age: 28

Gender: Male

Date of Birth: N/A

Civil Status: Unknown

Date of death/disappearance: Day:7 / Month:8 / Year:1964

Citizenship: Cuba

Last known address: Corazón de Jesús Sugar Mill Complex

Last known city: N/A

Last known province-TOD: Las Villas

Last known province current: N/A

Last known country: Cuba

Location death-address: Isla de los Pinos prison

Location of death - city: Isla de Pinos

Location of death province - at TOD: La Habana

Location of death province - current: Isla de la Juventud

Location of death - country: Cuba

Trial held?: N/A

Docket Number: N/A

Sentence details: N/A

Arrest or detention at time of death: Yes

Date of arrest: N/A

Imprisoned/Detained: Location: Isla de los Pinos prison

How long imprisoned/detained: N/A

Death attributed to: Castro regime

Death attribution detail: N/A

Associated Event: N/A

Case description:

Died from bayonet wounds, that perforated his intestines, after prison guard Sgt. Porfirio González Diaz attacked him. Thousands of political prisoners at Isla de Pinos prison had been recently forced into a penal labor as part of a regime to defeat them ideologically and make them submissive to the Castro regime. There was general resistance and the prisoners were unenthusiastic when the call to work was made each day. The guards became increasingly violent in forcing them out each morning. The morning hours of August 6, 1964, a group of guards under Sgt. Porfirio González entered Building #6, where around 500 prisoners were housed, bearing bayonets and hitting prisoners for not rushing (running) to work. Sgt. González came upon prisoner Ernesto Díaz Madruga on the stairs of the third floor bearing his breakfast mug and began to hit him with his bayonet while yelling insults and ordering him to run down the stairs to work. Madruga remained calm and refused to run, which infuriated González, who stabbed him repeatedly with his bayonet in the stomach. As he fell to the floor, he exclaimed "Coward, you've killed me!" Fellow prisoners carried him outside, where Lt. Bernardo Díaz, alias "Pomponio", ordered him to his work brigade. The prisoners refused to work, demanding that Madruga be sent to the hospital. Around 15 minutes later, he was taken for medical care but died the following day of a massive infection due to multiple perforations to his intestines. Sgt. González was promoted to lieutenant and would boast about his feat. From 1964-1967 several thousand political prisoners held at Isla de Pinos were subjected to the "rehabilitation" regime of extreme repression, forced hard labor, and malnutrition called "special plan Camilo Cienfuegos." Beatings and severe punishments were common and several prisoners were killed by prison guards.  During the history of the Cuban republic, political prisoners had never been forced to work. 
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Murió de bayonetazos después de haber sido atacado por el Sgt. Porfirio González Díaz. Miles de prisioneros políticos de la prisión de Isla de Pinos habían sido recientemente obligados a un trabajo penal como parte de un régimen para derrotarlos ideológicamente y hacerlos sumisos al régimen de Castro. Los prisioneros se resistían y los guardias se volvían cada vez más violentos para obligarlos a salir rápidamente a trabajar en las mañanas. En la mañana del 6 de agosto de 1964, un grupo de guardias bajo el Sgt. Porfirio González entró en el Edificio # 6, donde se alojaban alrededor de 500 presos, portando bayonetas y golpeando a todo prisionero a su alcance que no se moviera rápidamente. El Sgto. González se encontró con Ernesto Díaz Madruga en las escaleras del tercer piso llevando su taza de desayuno y comenzó a golpearlo con su bayoneta mientras le gritaba insultos y le ordenaba a bajar las escaleras corriendo. Madruga se mantuvo en calma y se negó a correr, lo que enfureció a González, que le clavó repetidamente la bayoneta en el estómago. Al caer al suelo, exclamó: "¡Cobarde, me has matado!" Otros prisioneros lo llevaron al exterior, donde el teniente Bernardo Díaz, alias "Pomponio", le ordenó a su brigada de trabajo. Los prisioneros se negaron a trabajar, exigiendo que enviasen a Madruga al hospital. Fue llevado a para recibir atención médica pero al día siguiente murió de infección masiva debido a múltiples perforaciones en los intestinos. El Sgto. González fue ascendido a teniente y se jactaba de su hazaña.  Las palizas y los castigos severos eran comunes en Isla de Pinos y varios presos fueron asesinados por los guardias.

Sources: Conflict of Evidence:

Sources are in conflict about the exact date of death: Instituto de la Memoria Histórica Cubana, 2002, p. 2, reports 08/05/1964, Circuito Sur, July 2002, p. 25, reports  08/09/1961.  Instituto de la memoria histórica, www.cubamemorial.net/listado, reports reports 08/091964.  Beruvides, 1993, p. 139; Cuban American National Foundation, Quilt of Fidel Castro's Genocide, 1994; WAQI-Radio Mambí, p. 69; Nuestra Cuba, 1998, p. 67; and Circuito Sur, July 2002, p. 50, report an Armando Ernesto Madruga, aliases Ernesto Madruga Armando and Armando Madrugas, executed by firing squad at La Cabaña Fortress prison on August 29, 1964.  Beruvides, 1993, p. 139; and Cuban American National Foundation, Quilt of Fidel Castro's Genocide, 1994, report an Ernesto Madruga, assassinated by police at G2 State Security headquarters in Havana in 1963.   Roberto Jiménez, Plan Especial Camilo Cienfuegos, un nombre para el trabajo forzado en Cuba, martinoticias.com, 1 junio 2014, reports the culprit's name as Porfirio García. Un día como hoy, Comité Internacional de ex-Presos Políticos Cubanos, e-mail of August 6, 2022, reports he was murdered on August 6, 1964.

Violation Status: Confirmed with primary source(s)

Cause of Death: - Extrajudicial killing

Occupations: - N/A

External Files: N/A

Relatives in Archive: N/A

Victim Type: - Prisoner / Detainee: Political cause

Affiliations: N/A

Other Victims Same Event: N/A

Case Record - Ernesto Díaz Madruga