Cuba Archive - Case 5391

Case ID: 5391

Title: N/A

First name: Alberto Cesareo

Last name: Fernández Medrano

Suffix: N/A

Aliases: N/A

Name also reported as: Cesareo Medrano, Alfredo Cesareo Fernández Medrano, Cesario Medrano, Adalberto Fernández, Alberto Suárez Fernández

Age: N/A

Gender: Male

Date of Birth: N/A

Civil Status: Unknown

Date of death/disappearance: Day:1 / Month:6 / Year:1964

Citizenship: N/A

Last known address: N/A

Last known city: N/A

Last known province-TOD: Camagüey

Last known province current: N/A

Last known country: Cuba

Location death-address: Shooting field

Location of death - city: Camaguey

Location of death province - at TOD: Camagüey

Location of death province - current: N/A

Location of death - country: Cuba

Trial held?: N/A

Docket Number: N/A

Sentence details: N/A

Arrest or detention at time of death: Yes

Date of arrest: Day:5 / Month:4 / Year:1964

Imprisoned/Detained: Location: N/A

How long imprisoned/detained: N/A

Death attributed to: Castro regime

Death attribution detail: N/A

Associated Event: N/A

Case description:

Lawyer and civic leader accused of being counterrevolutionary and C.I.A. agent. He was arrested with two fellow conspirators on charges of spying for the C.I.A. and held at the G-2 State Security headquarters in Camagüey. The three were tried (summary trial) 52 days after their arrest and taken from their trial directly to their execution. The families were not given the bodies for burial, but a relative of one of the deceased knew a man who had helped bury them in a common grave and allowed the families to retrieve the bodies. Upon examining the bodies, it was evident that their blood had been drained before the execution; this practice was reported throughout the island in the early 1960s, as the Cuban government was selling blood products to Vietnam.
Fernández was an active member of the Lions Club and had been district governor twice. The government accused him of using his Lions Club activities as cover to collect information and communicate with other CIA agents. The execution was announced the following day.
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Abogado y líder cívico acusado de ser contrarrevolucionario y agente de la C.I.A. Fue arrestado con dos compañeros  bajo cargos de espionaje y detenido en la sede del  G-2 de Seguridad del Estado en Camagüey. Los tres fueron juzgados (juicio sumario) 52 días después de su arresto, llevados de su juicio directamente a la ejecución. A las familias no se les dieron los cuerpos para el entierro, pero un familiar de uno de los fallecidos conoció a un hombre que había ayudado a enterrarlos en una fosa común y permitió a las familias recuperar los cuerpos. Al examinar los cadáveres, era evidente que su sangre había sido drenada antes de la ejecución. Esta práctica fue reportada en toda la isla a principios de los años 60, cuando el gobierno cubano vendía sanguíneos a Vietnam.
Fernández era un miembro activo del Club de Leones y había sido gobernador de distrito dos veces. El gobierno lo acusó de utilizar sus actividades en el club de Leones como cobertura para recopilar información y comunicarse con otros agentes de la CIA. La ejecución fue anunciada al día siguiente.

Sources: Conflict of Evidence:

WAQI-Radio Mambí, p. 48; Beruvides, 1993, p. 114; and Circuito Sur, July 2002, p. 29 all report date of death as June 2, 1964.United States Information Agency, 1993, Year 1965; Beruvides, 1993, p. 114; Cuban American National Foundation, Quilt of Fidel Castro's Genocide, 1994; and L. González Infante, Rostros-Faces, p. 123, report the victim as a 40 year-old prisoner living in Florida, Camagüey, executed by firing squad on charges of conspiring against the powers of the state, without proof of the charges, in the city of Camagüey in 1965.  Beruvides, 1993, p. 114, reports him executed in Florida, province of Camagüey in 1964.  Cuban American National Foundation, Quilt of Fidel Castro's Genocide, 1994, reports him executed in 1961. Lasalle, 1995; United States Information Agency, 1993, Year 1965; Beruvides, 1993, p. 144; Cuban American National Foundation, Quilt of Fidel Castro's Genocide, 1994; WAQI-Radio Mambí, p. 70; Nuestra Cuba, 1998, p. 68; and Circuito Sur, July 2002, p. 54, all report a Cesareo Medrano, Alfredo Cesareo Fernández Medrano, Cesario Medrano, age 35, executed August 31, 1965 in Camagüey. E. Ros, El clandestinaje, 2006, p. 399, reports an Alfredo Cesareo Fernández Medrano, executed by firing squad on charges of spying for the CIA in Camagüey on the same day, June 2, 1964, and in the same province as Manuel Paradela Gómez and Marcelino Martínez Tapia. Cuban American National Foundation, Quilt of Fidel Castro's Genocide, 1994, reports an Alberto Fernández Machado executed in 1965. Beruvides, 1993, p. 114; WAQI-Radio Mambí, p. 27; and Circuito Sur, July 2002, p. 29, all report an Alberto Fernández assassinated while under arrest at a State Security office in Havana on March 19, 1963.  Beruvides, 1993, p. 114; WAQI-Radio Mambí, p. 96; and Cuban American National Foundation, Quilt of Fidel Castro's Genocide, 1994, all report an Alberto Fernández executed December 11, 1986 at Sagua La Grande, Las Villas. Cuban American National Foundation, Quilt of Fidel Castro's Genocide, 1994, reports an Alberto Fernández dying at sea during an exit attempt. Ruíz, 1972, p. 74, reports an Adalberto Fernández assassinated by militiamen on December 4, 1961 in Pueblo Nuevo, Matanzas.  Beruvides, 1993, p. 114; Cuban American National Foundation, Quilt of Fidel Castro's Genocide, 1994; WAQI-Radio Mambí, p. 33; and Circuito Sur, July 2002, p. 29, all report an Adalberto Fernández executed. Cuban American National Foundation, Quilt of Fidel Castro's Genocide, 1994, reports an Alberto Suárez Fernández, from Güira de Melena, Havana, disappeared in an exit attempt in 1990.

Violation Status: Confirmed with primary source(s)

Cause of Death: - Execution: with prior blood extraction

Occupations: - Legal Occupations

External Files: N/A

Relatives in Archive: N/A

Victim Type: - Anti-Castro insurgent or resistance member

Affiliations: N/A

Other Victims Same Event: - Case 8955: Manuel Paradela Gómez - Case 5392: Marcelino Martínez Tapia

Case Record - Alberto Cesareo Fernández Medrano