Cuba Archive - Case 6188

Case ID: 6188

Title: N/A

First name: Francisco

Last name: Díaz Álvarez

Suffix: N/A

Aliases: Panchito, Pancho, El rubio

Name also reported as: N/A

Age: 42

Gender: Male

Date of Birth: Day:2 / Month:10 / Year:1924

Civil Status: Unknown

Date of death/disappearance: Day:30 / Month:5 / Year:1967

Citizenship: Cuba

Last known address: Concha 326 entre Aranguren y Jerez

Last known city: Cárdenas

Last known province-TOD: Matanzas

Last known province current: Matanzas

Last known country: Cuba

Location death-address: Punishment cell, State Security (G-2) office,

Location of death - city: Matanzas

Location of death province - at TOD: Matanzas

Location of death province - current: Matanzas

Location of death - country: Cuba

Trial held?: No

Docket Number: N/A

Sentence details: N/A

Arrest or detention at time of death: Yes

Date of arrest: Day:14 / Month:5 / Year:1967

Imprisoned/Detained: Location: State Security office, city Matanzas

How long imprisoned/detained: 16 days

Death attributed to: Castro regime

Death attribution detail: N/A

Associated Event: N/A

Case description:

He had been a soldier under three presidents in Cuba and has joined the resistance in the early 1960s. Was arrested at his mother's house in Cárdenas, turned in by a man infiltrated in a  group of five men that was planning to leave the country and included his brother. They other four were captured in the raft by the coast, as the were getting ready to leave, and served prison. He was sent to #4 'la plancha' punishment cell, where inmates were subjected to heat torture. The authorities told the family he had committed suicide by strangling and did not allow them to bury him. A year later, the doctor (Dr. Leoncio Morua Contreras) and his assistant, who conducted had conducted the autopsy at Matanzas Hospital, told the family the body had no signs of strangulation and that he had died of poisoning.
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Había sido soldado bajo tres presidentes en Cuba y se unió a la resistencia a principios de la década de 1960. Fue detenido en la casa de su madre en Cárdenas, entregado por un hombre infiltrado en un grupo de cinco hombres que planeaba salir del país e incluía a su hermano. Los otros cuatro fueron capturados en la balsa por la costa, mientras se preparaban para partir, y cumplieron prisión. Fue enviado a la celda de castigo # 4 'la plancha', donde los reclusos fueron sometidos a tortura por calor. Las autoridades dijeron a la familia que se había suicidado y no permitieron que lo enterraran. Un año después, el médico Dr. Leoncio Morua Contreras y su asistente, quien había realizado la autopsia en el Hospital de Matanzas, le dijeron a la familia que el cuerpo no presentaba signos de estrangulamiento y que había muerto por envenenamiento.

Sources: Conflict of Evidence:

Violation Status: Confirmed with primary source(s)

Cause of Death: - Extrajudicial killing

Occupations: - Not in the labor force

External Files: N/A

Relatives in Archive: N/A

Victim Type: - Anti-Castro insurgent or resistance member

Affiliations: N/A

Other Victims Same Event: N/A

Case Record - Francisco Díaz Álvarez