Cuba Archive - Case 6846

Case ID: 6846

Title: N/A

First name: Rafael L.

Last name: del Pino Siero

Suffix: N/A

Aliases: N/A

Name also reported as: Rafael del Pino, Rafael Valdés Pino

Age: 51

Gender: Male

Date of Birth: Year:1926

Civil Status: Unknown

Date of death/disappearance: Day:22 / Month:8 / Year:1977

Citizenship: United States

Last known address: N/A

Last known city: N/A

Last known province-TOD: Ciudad de La Habana

Last known province current: Ciudad de La Habana

Last known country: Cuba

Location death-address: Cell #62 of the Rectangle of Death Punishment Ward at Combinado del Este prison

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?: Yes

Docket Number: N/A

Sentence details: N/A

Arrest or detention at time of death: Yes

Date of arrest: N/A

Imprisoned/Detained: Location: N/A

How long imprisoned/detained: N/A

Death attributed to: Castro regime

Death attribution detail: Prison authorities

Associated Event: N/A

Case description:

Suffering a very painful urinary infection and denied medical attention, he went on a hunger strike to protest his condition and then reportedly committed suicide using a sheet to hang himself. The family was unable to view the body and it was not returned to them for burial. 
Del Pino Siero was born in Havana, but left for the United States, became a U.S. citizen and served in the U.S. Armed Forces. He returned to Cuba to study law and became a fellow student and friend of Fidel Castro´s. He traveled to Mexico to join Fidel in planning the Granma landing designed to launch the armed fight against the Batista regime. But, he left in disagreement when he realized KGB agents were present and that Castro sought to establish totalitarian rule in Cuba. After Fidel Castro came to power, del Pino started to run small flights to Cuba to retrieve defecting military officers. A spy in his group set him up for capture in one such mission to Cuba.  Injured in the fight that ensued, he was captured and sentenced to thirty years of prison.
Del Pino suffered from ill health from his injuries and was denied adequate medical attention. In the 1970's he was transfered to Combinado del Este prison. He was placed in a solitary confinement cell. 
In 2008 a jury in Florida ruled against the Cuban government and awarded del Pino's family $253 million, although Cuban government funds were not available in the U.S. to collect on the award.
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Sufriendo una infección urinaria muy dolorosa y denegada la atención médica, Rafael hizo una huelga de hambre para protestar y luego se suicidó usando una sábana para ahorcarse. A la familia le negaron ver el cuerpo y no se lo dieron tampoco para poder enterrarlo.
Del Pino Siero nació en La Habana, pero se fue a los Estados Unidos, se convirtió en ciudadano estadounidense y sirvió en las Fuerzas Armadas de ese país. Regresó a Cuba para estudiar derecho y se convirtió en compañero y amigo de Fidel Castro. Viajó a México para unirse a Fidel en la planificación del desembarco del yate Granma para lanzar la lucha armada contra el régimen de Batista. Pero, se separó del grupo cuando se dio cuenta que había agentes de la KGB presentes y que Castro iba a establecer un régimen totalitario en Cuba. Después que Castro llegara al poder, del Pino empezó a hacer pequeños vuelos a Cuba para rescatar a militares que habían desertado. Un espía que penetró su grupo lo delató  para que fuera capturado en una de esas misiones a Cuba. Resultó herido, fue capturado y sentenciado a treinta años de prisión.
Del Pino sufría de enfermedades por sus lesiones y se le negó la atención médica adecuada. En la década de 1970 fue trasladado a la prisión de Combinado del Este y puesto en una celda de confinamiento solitario.
En 2008, un jurado en Florida falló en contra del gobierno cubano y otorgó a la familia de del Pino 253 millones de dólares, aunque los fondos del gobierno cubano no estaban disponibles en los Estados Unidos para cobrar el fallo del jurado.

Sources:

A. Chardy, "Muerte de exiliado le cuesta $253 millones a Cuba,"  El Nuevo Herald, 4 abril 2008. Photo: Abel Nieves archiive. Valladares, 1985, p. 358. WAQI-Radio Mambí, p. 68. Beruvides, 1993, p. 187. Gloria Marína, The Miami Herald, 30 August 1977.  Eduardo de Juan, 1997, p. 284. Conte Aguero, pp. 101-102. Szulc, 1986, pp. 173, 177, and 366-367. Encinosa, 1994, pp. 336-338. Vargas Llosa, 1998, p. 186. Cuban American National Foundation, Quilt of Fidel Castro's Genocide, 1994. Ariel Remos, Diario Las Américas, 11 noviembre 1998, p. 10-a. Presidio Político Cubano, 1997, p. 160. Gómez Estrada, 1990, p. 213. Gutiérrez de la Solana, 1997, p. 151. Díaz Rodríguez, 1995, pp. 72-74, and 97. Pardo Mazorra, 1992, p. 567. Circuito Sur, 19 February 2002, p. 2. Nuestra Cuba, 1998. Circito Sur, July 2002, p. 23. p. 66. L. González Infante, Rostros-Faces, p. 95. Video testimony Sergio Bravo, former political prisoner, http://www.youtube.com/v/reDDCW8Cc7o&rel=1. Hayes Hunt and Tom Leonard, The Cuban Casualties Escaping Obama’s Notice, The Wall Street Journal, May 3, 2016, https://www.fromthesidebar.com/2016/05/03/the-cuban-casualties-escaping-obamas-notice/ (photo). Un día como hoy, Comité Internacional de ex-Presos Políticos Cubanos, e-mail of August 21, 2022.

Conflict of Evidence:

Violation Status: Confirmed with primary source(s)

Cause of Death: - Suicide/Alleged Suicide

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 - Rafael L. del Pino Siero