Cuba Archive - Case 4496

Case ID: 4496

Title: Teniente

First name: Juan José

Last name: Catalá Coste

Suffix: N/A

Aliases: El picher, El piche, El pichi

Name also reported as: Juan José Catala Come, Sixto Catalá, Vicente Catalán, José Catalá, Vicente Piche Catalá, Juan José Catala, Juan José Catala Corne, Catal Vicente, Pichi Catalá

Age: 35

Gender: Male

Date of Birth: Day:22 / Month:10 / Year:1927

Civil Status: Married

Date of death/disappearance: Day:22 / Month:3 / Year:1963

Citizenship: N/A

Last known address: N/A

Last known city: Jovellanos

Last known province-TOD: Matanzas

Last known province current: Matanzas

Last known country: Cuba

Location death-address: Finca Ibarra

Location of death - city: Municipio Juan Gualberto Gómez

Location of death province - at TOD: Matanzas

Location of death province - current: Matanzas

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: Castro regime

Death attribution detail: Armed Forces: FAR (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias)

Associated Event: Anti-Castro insurgency/resistance

Case description: Sources: Conflict of Evidence:

Testimony of comrade in arms, 7/17/2007, reports he was killed at Finca Ibarra, Matanzas.  Beruvides, 1993, p. 159; Beruvides, 1993, p. 102; Cuban American National Foundation, Quilt, 1994; WAQI-Radio Mambí, p. 49; Encinosa, 1994, p. 153;  Nuestra Cuba, 1998, pp. 42 and 44; and Circuito Sur, July 2002, p. 18, report him as José Catalá, executed 6/11/1963 in Rodas.  Encinosa, 1989, p. 149, Beruvides, 1993, p. 132, Cuban American National Foundation, Quilt, 1994, and Circuito Sur, July 2002, p. 46 report him as rebel executed at San Severino Castle, Matanzas, in 1959.  Crespo, 1986, p. 66, reports him as Sixto Catalá, an anti-Castro insurgent living in the province of Las Villas, killed in combat in the Escambray Mountains in 1961.  Circuito Sur, July 2002, pp. 19, 35 and 49; and Cuban American National Foundation, Quilt of Fidel Castro's Genocide, 1994, report him as Vicente Catalán, alias Catal Vicente, an Escambray guerrilla living and operating in Aguada de Pasajeros, province of Las Villas (now Cienfuegos), a prisoner executed by firing squad at Finca El Pesquero in Aguada de Pasajeros on March 14, 1963.  United States Information Agency, 1993, Year 1961, reports him executed by firing squad in May 1961.  Beruvides, 1993, p. 102; Cuban American National Foundation, Quilt of Fidel Castro's Genocide, 1994; WAQI-Radio Mambí, p. 49; Encinosa, 1994, p. 153; Nuestra Cuba, 1998, pp. 42 and 44; and Circuito Sur, July 2002, p. 18, report him as José Catalá, an Escambray guerrilla rebel executed by firing squad in Rodas, province of Las Villas (now Cienfuegos), on June 11, 1963.  E. Ros, El clandestinaje, 2006, reports the victim as Pichi Catalá, executed by firing squad in central Limonar, province of Matanzas, on March 22, 1963. Un día como hoy, Comité Internacional de ex-Presos Políticos Cubanos, e-mail of June 11, 2022, reports him killed in combat on June 11, 1963.

Violation Status: Confirmed with primary source(s)

Cause of Death: - Combat: Fatality or Missing in Action

Occupations: N/A

External Files: N/A

Relatives in Archive: - Brother/Sister in Case 6616: Vicente Catalá Coste

Victim Type: - Anti-Castro insurgent or resistance member

Affiliations: - Former Rebel Army Lieutenant of the Segundo Frente del Escambray - Anti-Communist Liberation Front

Other Victims Same Event: - Case 5158: Felipe Junco Rodríguez - Case 4515: Benigno Quintero - Case 3679: Juan Andrés Enriquez Abreu - Case 36: Cayetano Roberto Abreu Borges - Case 4514: Roberto Quintana Villalonga

Case Record - Juan José Catalá Coste