Cuba Archive - Case 6814

Case ID: 6814

Title: N/A

First name: Aldo

Last name: Vera Serafín

Suffix: N/A

Aliases: N/A

Name also reported as: N/A

Age: 48

Gender: Male

Date of Birth: Day:28 / Month:7 / Year:1928

Civil Status: Unknown

Date of death/disappearance: Day:25 / Month:10 / Year:1976

Citizenship: N/A

Last known address: N/A

Last known city: San Juan, Puerto Rico

Last known province-TOD: N/A

Last known province current: N/A

Last known country: United States

Location death-address: N/A

Location of death - city: San Juan

Location of death province - at TOD: N/A

Location of death province - current: N/A

Location of death - country: Puerto Rico

Trial held?: No

Docket Number: N/A

Sentence details: N/A

Arrest or detention at time of death: No

Date of arrest: N/A

Imprisoned/Detained: Location: N/A

How long imprisoned/detained: N/A

Death attributed to: Castro regime

Death attribution detail: Cuba's Directorate of Intelligence

Associated Event: N/A

Case description:

Vera was killed in San Juan, Puerto Rico, shot in the back after leaving a meeting. A high-ranking former Cuban intelligence officer (defector) has confirmed that it was an operation by a hit man organized by the Q-2 department of the MQ division of Cuba's Directorate of Intelligence. Another defector, a close associate of the Castro brothers and their inner circle, asserts that Col. Antonio de la Guardia had directed the operation for Cuba, that was carried out with the Puerto Rican Macheteros terrorist group. No arrests have been made, nor criminal charges filed in court regarding this assassination. Vera had been the head of the sabotage squad ( "Acción y Sabotaje") of the 26th of July movement against the Batista dictatorship. In the new revolutionary government, he was named Commander of Police of Havana and subsequently Head of the Investigations Department of the Armed Forces( DIER  - Departamento de Investigaciones del Ejército Rebelde). Soon, disillusioned with its Marxist leanings, he began conspiring against the revolutionary government. He evaded capture by going into exile in the U.S. in May 1961.  In 1970, he became a member of the exile organization Unidad Revolucionaria and leader of the Fourth Republic anti-Castro group. On several occasions, he infiltrated Cuba to organize sabotage operations.
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Vera fue asesinado en San Juan, Puerto Rico, con un disparo en la espalda después de salir de una reunión. Un ex oficial de inteligencia cubano de alto rango (desertor) confirmó que se trató de un operativo organizado por el departamento Q-2 de la división MQ de la Dirección de Inteligencia de Cuba. Otro desertor, estrecho colaborador de los hermanos Castro y su círculo íntimo, afirma que el coronel Antonio de la Guardia había dirigido el operativo, que se llevó a cabo con el grupo terrorista puertorriqueño Macheteros. No se han realizado arrestos ni se han presentado cargos penales en los tribunales por este asesinato.
Vera había sido el jefe de la escuadra de sabotaje ("Acción y Sabotaje") del movimiento 26 de julio contra la dictadura de Batista. En el nuevo gobierno revolucionario fue nombrado Comandante de la Policía de La Habana y posteriormente Jefe del Departamento de Investigaciones de las Fuerzas Armadas (DIER - Departamento de Investigaciones del Ejército Rebelde). Pronto, desilusionado con las inclinaciones marxistas del régimen, comenzó a conspirar contra el gobierno revolucionario. Eludió la captura y se exilió en los Estados Unidos en mayo de 1961. En 1970, se convirtió en miembro de la organización de exiliados Unidad Revolucionaria y líder del grupo anticastrista Cuarta República. En varias ocasiones se infiltró en Cuba para organizar operaciones de sabotaje.

Sources:

Testimony by telephone of former Cuban intelligence officer Enrique Garcia Diaz, March 19, 2015. Norberto Fuentes, Dulces Guerreros Cubanos, p. 119. Rafael del Pino, El Nuevo Día (San Juan, Puerto Rico), 23 abril 1989, p. 7. El Vocero, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 26 octubre 1976, p. 2. El Vocero, 28 octubre 1976, p. 2. Carlos Franqui, Diario de la Revolución Cubana, 1956, pp. 164-165, 201, 308 and 690. Carlos Alberto Montaner, El Nuevo Herald, 4 junio 1988. Miami Herald, 28 October 1976, p. 10-b. El Mundo (San Juan, Puerto Rico), 28 octubre 1976. Antonio de la Cova, Crónica Gráfica, Año 10, No. 147, 1988, pp. 10-15. Norberto Fuentes, 1999, p. 119. El Nuevo Herald, 9 enero 2002. Jay Weaver, The Miami Herald, 8 January 2002, p. 3-b. Circuito Sur, July 2002, p. 88. Cuban American National Foundation, Quilt of Fidel Castro's Genocide, 1994. Aldo Vera Serafín, Efemérides y Recuerdos para no olvidar, Unión de Expresos Cubanos de Puerto Rico, by email 4/1/2016. Un día como hoy, Comité Internacional de ex-Presos Políticos Cubanos, e-mail of October 23, 2022.

Conflict of Evidence:

Violation Status: Confirmed with primary source(s)

Cause of Death: - Extrajudicial killing

Occupations: - Military Specific Occupations

External Files: N/A

Relatives in Archive: N/A

Victim Type: - Political opponent: member of opposition group

Affiliations: - Unidad Revolucionaria - Fourth Republic - 26 of July Movement

Other Victims Same Event: N/A

Case Record - Aldo Vera Serafín