Cuba Archive - Case 8850

Case ID: 8850

Title: N/A

First name: Luciano

Last name: Nieves Mestre

Suffix: N/A

Aliases: N/A

Name also reported as: N/A

Age: 43

Gender: Male

Date of Birth: Day:6 / Month:10 / Year:1932

Civil Status: Unknown

Date of death/disappearance: Day:21 / Month:2 / Year:1975

Citizenship: N/A

Last known address: N/A

Last known city: Miami, Florida

Last known province-TOD: N/A

Last known province current: N/A

Last known country: United States

Location death-address: Parking lot of the Variety Children' Hospital, Coral Way and 60, St.

Location of death - city: Miami, Florida

Location of death province - at TOD: N/A

Location of death province - current: N/A

Location of death - country: United States

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: Anti-Castro Resistance / Non-state actors

Death attribution detail: N/A

Associated Event: N/A

Case description:

Cuban exile shot to death at a Miami hospital parking lot, where his son was hospitalized with a throat infection. He favored a dialogue with the Castro government. Cuban exile Valentín Hernández was convicted in 1978 of pumping six bullets into Nieves and sentenced to a long prison sentence for the murder. Nieves' brother, Raúl, was a commander in Castro's Armed Forces.
Valentín Hernandez was sentenced to life in prison for the murder. He was arrested at the International Airport of San Juan, Puerto Rico, on July 17, 1977, after arriving from Bogota.  A second alleged shooter, Jesús Lazo, was never apprehended. Hernandez and Lazo were leaders of the anti-communist movement Cuban Neo-Revolutionary Action (Pragmatists). The policemen who worked their case were later convicted for corruption and it was alleged that the case had been fabricated.
Luciano Nieves was president of the Orthodox Party Youth in Las Villas, Cuba.
Nieves had been a captain of the Rebel Army and fought in the Sierra Maestra but turned against the Castro regime and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. After serving two years in La Cabaña, he was inexplicably released. He left for Spain, where he was born, and arrived in the United States in 1963. In 1972, Nieves emerged as the leading figure of a group of Cuban leftists in the US who called for a "dialogue" with Fidel Castro, and held secret meetings with agents of Cuban Intelligence in Jamaica and Panama, coordinated by Max Lesnik, owner of Replica magazine.
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Exiliado cubano fue asesinado a tiros en el estacionamiento de un hospital de Miami, donde su hijo estaba internado con una infección de garganta. Estaba a favor de un diálogo con el gobierno de Castro. El exiliado cubano Valentín Hernández fue declarado culpable en 1978 de disparar seis balas a Nieves y sentenciado a una larga pena de prisión por el asesinato. El hermano de Nieves, Raúl, era comandante de las Fuerzas Armadas de Castro.
Valentín Hernández fue condenado a cadena perpetua por el asesinato. Fue detenido en el Aeropuerto Internacional de San Juan, Puerto Rico, el 17 de julio de 1977, luego de llegar procedente de Bogotá. Un segundo presunto tirador, Jesús Lazo, nunca fue detenido. Hernández y Lazo eran líderes del movimiento anticomunista Acción Neorrevolucionaria Cubana (Pragmáticos). Los policías que trabajaron en el caso fueron posteriormente condenados por corrupción y se alegó que el caso había sido inventado.
Luciano Nieves fue presidente de la Juventud del Partido Ortodoxo
en Las Villas, Cuba, y Ilego a ser capitan del Ejército Rebelde, peleó en la Sierra Maestra.  Fue sentenciado a 20 anos de presidio por el régimen de Castro, pero despues de cumplir dos anos en La Cabaña, inexplicablemente fue puesto en libertad. Marchó a España, donde había nacido, para llegar a Estados Unidos en 1963.  En 1972, Luciano Nieves surgio como la figura principal de un nucleo de cubanos izquierdistas
en Estados Unidos que pedian un "dialogo" con Fidel
Castro, y quienes tuvieron reuniones secretas con agentes
de la Direccion General de Inteligencia (DGI) de Cuba en Jamaica, y Panama. La "eminencia gris" de esa labor fue senalado como Max "El Polaco" Lesnik, duueño de la revista Replica.

Sources: Conflict of Evidence:

Violation Status: Reported: Highly likely / Highly reliable source(s)

Cause of Death: - Politically-motivated killing by non-state agent(s)

Occupations: - Transportation and Material Moving Occupations

External Files: N/A

Relatives in Archive: N/A

Victim Type: - Other

Affiliations: - Former Rebel Army

Other Victims Same Event: N/A

Case Record - Luciano Nieves Mestre