Cuba Archive - Case 8543

Case ID: 8543

Title: N/A

First name: Luis Angel

Last name: Valverde Linfernal

Suffix: N/A

Aliases: Gelin

Name also reported as: N/A

Age: 33

Gender: Male

Date of Birth: Day:12 / Month:6 / Year:1960

Civil Status: Unknown

Date of death/disappearance: Day:19 / Month:1 / Year:1994

Citizenship: Cuba

Last known address: Carlos M. de Cespedes y Crombet, entre Aguilera y Colombei

Last known city: El Giro

Last known province-TOD: Guantánamo

Last known province current: Guantánamo

Last known country: Cuba

Location death-address: At sea: near U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo

Location of death - city: N/A

Location of death province - at TOD: Oriente

Location of death province - current: Guantánamo

Location of death - country: Cuba

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: Armed Forces: FAR (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias) Border Guard / Navy

Associated Event: Guantanamo Naval Base exit attempt

Case description:

He left from Guantánamo with three friends to swim to the U.S. Naval Base to request asylum. When they were fifty meters from the base, they were shot at with long-range automatic rifles from a watchtower of the Cuban Border Guard. His friends pulled his dead body and that of a companion, Iskander Maleras Pedraza, out of the water. The following day, January 20, 1994, his mother was told to go to the Guantanamo cemetery and was shown his body, riveted with bullet wounds. Both men were quickly buried naked in a large field at the cemetery where victims of foiled exit attempts through the Guantanamo Naval base are buried in unmarked graves. One of the two survivors made it into the US Naval Base and eventually to the U.S., another was apprehended by Cuban Border guards, tried and sentenced to prison. At the trial, it was determined that the guards had shot following orders. 
He left a widow and two young children. His family was harassed, persecuted, and eventually forced to seek political asylum in the United States. 
For additional details, see Case Profile at www.CubaArchive.org.
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Salió de Guantánamo con tres amigos para nadar hasta la Base Naval de Estados Unidos para solicitar asilo. Cuando estaban a cincuenta metros de la base, les dispararon con rifles automáticos de largo alcance desde una torre de vigilancia de la Guardia Fronteriza Cubana. Sus amigos sacaron su cuerpo y el de Iskander Maleras Pedraza, del agua. Al día siguiente, el 20 de enero de 1994, le dijeron a su madre que fuera al cementerio de Guantánamo y le mostraron su cuerpo, remachado con heridas de bala. Ambos hombres fueron rápidamente enterrados desnudos en un gran campo en el cementerio donde las víctimas de intentos frustrados de salida a través de la base naval de Guantánamo están enterrados en tumbas sin marcar. Uno de los dos sobrevivientes ingresó a la Base Naval de los EE. UU. Y, finalmente, a los EE. UU., Otro fue arrestado por guardias fronterizos cubanos, juzgado y condenado a prisión. En el juicio, se determinó que los guardias habían disparado siguiendo órdenes.
Dejó a una viuda y dos niños pequeños. Su familia fue acosada, perseguida y eventualmente obligada a buscar asilo político en los Estados Unidos.
Para obtener detalles adicionales, vea el Perfil del caso en www.CubaArchive.org

Sources: Conflict of Evidence:

Violation Status: Confirmed with primary source(s)

Cause of Death: - Extrajudicial killing: in exit attempt

Occupations: - Education, Training, and Library Occupations

External Files: N/A

Relatives in Archive: N/A

Victim Type: - Attempting exit

Affiliations: N/A

Other Victims Same Event: - Case 9041: Iskander Maleras Pedraza

Case Record - Luis Angel Valverde Linfernal