Cuba Archive - Case 4220

Case ID: 4220

Title: N/A

First name: Israel

Last name: Escalona Ledesma

Suffix: N/A

Aliases: N/A

Name also reported as: N/A

Age: N/A

Gender: Male

Date of Birth: N/A

Civil Status: Unknown

Date of death/disappearance: Day:29 / Month:10 / Year:1956

Citizenship: N/A

Last known address: N/A

Last known city: N/A

Last known province-TOD: N/A

Last known province current: N/A

Last known country: N/A

Location death-address: Haitian Embassy

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?: N/A

Docket Number: N/A

Sentence details: N/A

Arrest or detention at time of death: N/A

Date of arrest: N/A

Imprisoned/Detained: Location: N/A

How long imprisoned/detained: N/A

Death attributed to: Batista regime

Death attribution detail: Police

Associated Event: 1956 Attack/Massacre at Haiti Embassy

Case description:

In October 1956, several anti-Batista revolutionaries who had survived an attack of the Goicuría Army Barrack entered the Haitian Embassy in Havana and requested asylum. Batista received a report from the Haitian ambassador and asked Police Chief Rafael Salas Cañizares to handle the situation. Because other embassies were full of assylees, he apparently decided to send a message by storming the embassy, in violation of all international treaties. (Embassy personnel had left.) All the assylees were murdered and so was Police Chief Salas. Rumors were spread that Secundino Martínez, one of the murdered assylees, had killed Salas, although he had reportedly been killed by friendly fire. Haiti filed a diplomatic note of protest. Batista granted a loan of three million dollars to the government of Haiti, that accepted his government´s apologies and its promise to punish those who had violated the extraterritoriality of the Haitian embassy.
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Revolucionario anti-Batista muerto en un tiroteo en la toma de la embajada de Haití, donde se habían refugiado después de atacar el Cuartel Goicuría. La embajada fue tomada por fuerzas de la policía dirigidas  por el coronel Rafael Salas Cañizares, jefe de la policía nacional, que también resultó muerto.

Sources: Conflict of Evidence:

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

Cause of Death: - Extrajudicial killing: in exit attempt

Occupations: - N/A

External Files: N/A

Relatives in Archive: N/A

Victim Type: - Anti-Batista insurgent or resistance member

Affiliations: - Organización Auténtica

Other Victims Same Event: - Case 10786: Gregorio Garcia Borundarena - Case 3950: Eladio Cid Crespo - Case 3895: Carlos M. Casanova Reynoso - Case 9139: Secundino Martínez Sánchez - Case 6663: Rubén Hernández Concepción - Case 9140: Alfredo Massip Masiques - Case 4335: Orlando Fernández Ferray - Case 4364: Leonel Guerra Mendoza - Case 5447: Salvador Ibañez Ibañez - Case 6838: Orlando Hernández Farroy - Case 9171: Rafael Salas Cañizares

Case Record - Israel Escalona Ledesma