Cuba Archive - Case 2602

Case ID: 2602

Title: N/A

First name: Alberto

Last name: Tapia-Ruano Eligio-de-la-Puente

Suffix: N/A

Aliases: Tapita

Name also reported as: N/A

Age: 23

Gender: Male

Date of Birth: Day:7 / Month:8 / Year:1937

Civil Status: Unknown

Date of death/disappearance: Day:18 / Month:4 / Year:1961

Citizenship: Cuba

Last known address: Ave. 45 Nro. 3430, Reparto Kohly, Marianao

Last known city: La Habana

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: 136 of 1961

Sentence details: Capital punishment

Arrest or detention at time of death: Yes

Date of arrest: Day:27 / Month:3 / Year:1961

Imprisoned/Detained: Location: La Cabaña Fortress prison

How long imprisoned/detained: N/A

Death attributed to: Castro regime

Death attribution detail: N/A

Associated Event: Anti-Castro insurgency/resistance

Case description:

Executed by firing squad with seven other members of the anti-Castro resistance.  Their death sentence had been delivered in a 20-minute summary trial held at La Cabaña Fortress prison as the Bay of Pigs invasion was beginning a day earlier.  A ninth individual was tried, Tomás Fernández-Travieso, but because he was a minor was instead sentenced to 30 years of prison (of which he served 19). The eight men awaited their execution together in a special cell and, for hours, prayed the rosary before being taken one by one to the wall for their execution. Other prisoners could hear the firing squad and coup de grace shots delivered at the end of each execution.
 He was charged with conspiracy and possession and transport of arms and explosives. After the execution, the family was allowed to collect his body at the Colón Cemetery in Havana to bury him in the family crypt. A devout Catholic, Alberto wrote in a farewell letter to his parents (excerpts): "They have just ratified my death sentence. You may not believe me, but I can assure you that I have never felt so spiritually at peace. I sincerely feel happy that soon I will be with God, waiting and praying for you. (...) Glory to Christ the King! Have faith in God."
From the testimony of fellow prisoner, Tomás Fernández-Travieso, member of the resistance group Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil who bid eight fellow prisoners farewell before they were executed: "Alberto (Tapita) hugged me: "I hope I'm next," he said. Embraced, we heard Virgilio fulfilling his promise and then three coup de grâce shots."
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Ejecutado por un pelotón de fusilamiento con otros siete miembros de la resistencia anticastrista. Su sentencia de muerte fue dictada en un juicio sumario de 20 minutos celebrado en la prisión de la Fortaleza de La Cabaña un día después de haber comenzado la invasión de Bahía de Cochinos. Un noveno individuo fue juzgado, Tomás Fernández-Travieso, pero como era menor de edad fue sentenciado a 30 años de prisión (de los cuales cumplió 19 años). Los ocho hombres esperaron su ejecución juntos en una celda especial y, durante horas, rezaron el rosario antes de ser llevados uno a uno al paredón para su ejecución. Otros prisioneros pudieron escuchar los disparos del pelotón de fusilamiento y el tiro de gracia al final de cada ejecución. Fue acusado de conspiración, posesión y transporte de armas y explosivos. Tras la ejecución, se permitió a la familia recoger su cuerpo en el Cementerio Colón de La Habana para enterrarlo en la cripta familiar. Un católico devoto, Alberto escribió en una carta de despedida a sus padres (extractos): "Acaban de ratificar mi sentencia de muerte. Puede que no me crean, pero les puedo asegurar que nunca me había sentido tan en paz espiritualmente. feliz de que pronto estaré con Dios, esperándote y orando por ti (...) ¡Gloria a Cristo Rey! Ten fe en Dios ".
Del testimonio del compañero de prisión, Tomás Fernández-Travieso, miembro del grupo de resistencia Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil, quien despidió a ocho compañeros de prisión antes de ser ejecutados el 17/4/1961: "Alberto (Tapita) me abrazó:" Espero ser el siguiente ", dijo. Abrazados oímos a Virgilio cumplir su promesa, sonó el FAL y luego tres tiros de gracia".

Sources:

Fusilamientos del 18 abril 1961, Cuba y su historia con Alberto Muller, WLRN Channel 17, Miami, Apr. 17, 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPBcoqp0Q54. Written testimony of brother (resident of Spain), 4/19/2010. Enrique Ros, 1994 , pp. 184-186. Confirmed by Tomás Fernández-Travieso, 1996, p. 8-a. Clark, 1990, p. 74. Muller, Diario Las Américas, 26 marzo 1997. WAQI-Radio Mambí, p. 35. Gonzalo Guimarens, CubaNet News, 28 June 1998, p. 1. Beruvides, 1993, p. 179. Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil, 1965, p. 37. Gómez Estrada, 1990, p. 152. Gutiérrez de la Solana, 1997, p. 67. Encinosa, 1994, pp. 38-39, 69, 93-94. Organization of American States, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Sixth Special Report, 1979, p. 4. Nuestra Cuba, 1998, p. 29. Ruíz, 1972, p. 64. Instituto de la Memoria Histórica Cubana contra el Totalitarismo, 2002, p. 9. Circuito Sur, July 2002, p. 83. Faria, 2002, p. 94. United States Information Agency, 1993, Year 1960. Cuban American National Foundation, Quilt of Fidel Castro's Genocide, 1994. L. González Infante, Rostros-Faces, p. 343. "Alberto Tapia Ruano ( Tapita ) , Rogelio Gonzalez Corso y Virgilio Campaneria Angel, Tres Martires Cristianos de Abril de 1961," http://baracuteycubano.blogspot.com/2006/04/alberto-tapia-ruano-tapita-rogelio.html.
Tomás Fernández-Travieso, Testigo del sacrificio (hace 55 años), April 2016. http://eldiariodelamarina.com/testimonio-testigo-del-sacrificio/
(Testimony of fellow prisoner, Tomás Fernández-Travieso, member of the resistance group Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil, who bid eight fellow prisoners farewell before they were executed on 4/17/1961. Efemérides Cubanas, http://www.ueppc.com/?page_id=4178.

Conflict of Evidence:

Violation Status: Confirmed with primary source(s)

Cause of Death: - Execution: by firing squad

Occupations: - Not in the labor force

External Files: N/A

Relatives in Archive: N/A

Victim Type: - Anti-Castro insurgent or resistance member

Affiliations: - Catholic youth group - Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil

Other Victims Same Event: - Case 2576: Lázaro Reyes Benítez - Case 2532: Carlos Manuel Calvo Martínez - Case 2533: Virgilio Campanería Ángel - Case 2578: Carlos Antonio Rodríguez Cabo - Case 2581: Filiberto Rodríguez Ravelo - Case 2579: Efrén Rodríguez López - Case 2531: José Calderín

Case Record - Alberto Tapia-Ruano Eligio-de-la-Puente