Cuba Archive - Case 991

Case ID: 991

Title: First Lt.

First name: José de Jesús

Last name: Castaño Quevedo

Suffix: N/A

Aliases: Cheo

Name also reported as: Raúl Castaño, Quevedo Castaño, José Quevedo Castaño

Age: 44

Gender: Male

Date of Birth: Day:23 / Month:6 / Year:1914

Civil Status: Unknown

Date of death/disappearance: Day:7 / Month:3 / Year:1959

Citizenship: Cuba

Last known address: N/A

Last known city: Havana Vieja

Last known province-TOD: La Habana

Last known province current: Ciudad de La Habana

Last known country: Cuba

Location death-address: La Cabaña Fortress prison

Location of death - city: Havana

Location of death province - at TOD: La Habana

Location of death province - current: Ciudad de La Habana

Location of death - country: Cuba

Trial held?: Yes

Docket Number: 75 of 1959

Sentence details: Capital punishment

Arrest or detention at time of death: Yes

Date of arrest: Day:1 / Month:3 / Year:1959

Imprisoned/Detained: Location: La Cabaña Fortress prison

How long imprisoned/detained: Approximately 2 months

Death attributed to: Castro regime

Death attribution detail: Ché Guevara

Associated Event: N/A

Case description:

First Lieutenant and Deputy Chief of the Bureau of Repression of Communist Activities (BRAC), multilingual and renowned international expert in criminology, Communism, and military intelligence. He was a career Army officer (as was his father, Paulino Castaño) and was already in service when General Batista staged a coup d'etat. Castaño investigated Communist activities in Cuba and Latin America. During the Batista regime, the BRAC had reportedly tortured and killed some members of the resistance. When the revolutionary government rose to power, he was arrested and sentenced to death in a summary trial by a revolutionary tribunal. No evidence was presented but he was charged with murder, abuses, torture, rape, and theft. At his trial, Castaño said: "I did not serve the Batista dictatorship, I only worked against the Soviet infiltration of my country."  7 or 8 members of the opposition movement 26th of July tried to testify that Castaño's had helped them but were turned away. After a brief appeal hearing, Ché Guevara ordered him executed at once. Amidst loud public outcry, Fidel Castro agreed to have him tried again due to the glaring lack of evidence but gave Ché discretion and he had the execution proceed at once. Guevara is said to have burnt all the BRAC's files. Castaño left a wife, a daughter, age 16, and two sons, ages 18 and 19. 
Philip Agee, the retired CIA agent who retired in Cuba, later wrote that Castaño had been the BRAC liaison with the CIA station in the U.S. Embassy.  He wrote that on learning of Castaño's death sentence, the CIA Agency Chief of Station sent a journalist collaborator to see Che Guevara and plead for Castaño's life. Che told him to tell the CIA chief that Castaño was going to die, if not because he was an executioner of Batista, then because he was an agent of the CIA. Upon hearing this, the CIA Chief of Station is reported to have stated: "This is a declaration of war."
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Un primer teniente de carrera oficial del ejército (como su padre, Paulino Castaño) y experto en inteligencia militar, estaba en servicio cuando Batista llegó al poder en un golpe de Estado. Un renombrado experto internacional en criminología y comunismo que habló muchas lenguas e investigó las actividades comunistas en Cuba y América Latina como Jefe Adjunto del Buró de Represión de Actividades Comunistas (BRAC). Durante el régimen de Batista, el BRAC habría torturado y asesinado a algunos miembros de la resistencia. Cuando el gobierno revolucionario subió al poder, fue arrestado y condenado a muerte en un juicio sumario por un tribunal revolucionario. No se presentó evidencia, sin embargo, fue acusado de asesinato, abusos, tortura, violación y robo. En su juicio, Castaño dijo: "No serví la dictadura de Batista, sólo trabajé en contra de la infiltración soviética de mi país". 7 u 8 miembros del movimiento de oposición el 26 de julio trataron de dar testimonio de cómo Castaño los había ayudado, pero fueron rechazados. Después de una breve audiencia de apelación, Ché Guevara dio órdenes para que se ejecutara de inmediato. En medio de un fuerte clamor público, Fidel Castro accedió a que lo juzgaran de nuevo debido a la falta de pruebas, pero dio a Ché discreción y hizo que la ejecución se llevara a cabo de inmediato. Se dice que Guevara tomó posesión y quemó todos los archivos del BRAC. Castaño dejó una esposa, una hija de 16 años y dos hijos de 18 y 19 años.
Philip Agee, el agente retirado de la CIA que se retiró en Cuba, escribió más tarde que Castaño había sido el enlace del BRAC con la estación de la CIA en la Embajada de los Estados Unidos. Escribió que al enterarse de la sentencia de muerte de Castaño, el Jefe de Estación de la Agencia de la CIA envió a un colaborador periodista para ver al Che Guevara y abogar por la vida de Castaño. Che le dijo que le dijera al jefe de la CIA que Castaño iba a morir, si no porque era un verdugo de Batista, entonces porque era un agente de la CIA. Al enterarse de esto, el jefe de la estación de la CIA ha declarado: "Esta es una declaración de guerra".

Sources:

Telephone interview J. Arzuaga, 9/29/2009. Interview with son, 7/27/2009, Miami, Florida. Written testimony of son, Memorial Cubano, Miami, 2/20/2005. Interview with former member of Ché Guevara's troop, 7/26/2009, Miami, Florida. J. Arzuaga, La galera de la muerte, 2006, pp. 123-127. J. Arzuaga, Transcript of interview, 1/25/2007. "Terrorism and Civil Society as Instruments of U.S. Policy in Cuba," Granma International, July 31, 2003. International Commission of Jurists, 1962, p. 167. M. Uralde Cancio, "Accionar de las fuerzas represivas de Batista...", Revista Caliban. L. Ruíz, 1965, pp. 65 and 240. Nuestra Cuba, 1998, p. 19. WAQI-Radio Mambí, pp. 23,42 and 47. Beruvides, 1993, p. 101. A. Rivero, El Nuevo Herald, 5 January 1999, p. 7-a. Cuban American National Foundation, Quilt of Fidel Castro's Genocide, 1994. Circuito Sur, July 2002, p. 17. Conte-Aguero, 1962, p. 151. Impresora Nacional, 1992, p. 26. United States Information Agency, 1993, Year 1959. Un día como hoy, Comité Internacional de ex-Presos Políticos Cubanos, e-mail of March 6, 2022.

Conflict of Evidence:

Violation Status: Confirmed with primary source(s)

Cause of Death: - Execution: by firing squad

Occupations: - Military Specific Occupations

External Files: N/A

Relatives in Archive: N/A

Victim Type: - Armed Forces: served Batista government

Affiliations: N/A

Other Victims Same Event: N/A

Case Record - José de Jesús Castaño Quevedo