Cuba Archive - Case 6192

Case ID: 6192

Title: N/A

First name: Antonio

Last name: Briones Montoto

Suffix: N/A

Aliases: Tony

Name also reported as: N/A

Age: 27

Gender: Male

Date of Birth: Day:24 / Month:6 / Year:1939

Civil Status: Married

Date of death/disappearance: Day:8 / Month:5 / Year:1967

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: Cuba

Location death-address: Machurucuto beach

Location of death - city: 80 miles from Caracas, state of Miranda

Location of death province - at TOD: N/A

Location of death province - current: N/A

Location of death - country: Venezuela

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: Armed forces of another country

Death attribution detail: Armed forces of Venezuela

Associated Event: International intervention armed/subversion (Venezuela)

Case description:

Cuban Ministry of the Interior official who died after landing with a guerrilla group in Machurucuto beach, Venezuela. The group of three Cubans and nine Venezuelans trained in Cuba was part of a Cuba-sponsored operation that sought to overthrow the democratically-elected government of Rómulo Betancourt. Ten of the invaders died in the battle with Venezuelan Army and National Guard troops or its aftermath, including two other Cubans, Pedro Cabrera Torres and Gilberto Pico Rivers. A young Venezuelan soldier and later revolutionary, William Ibarra, reports that Briones was killed after his capture. Briones had joined the revolutionary militia immediately after the revolutionary government arrived in power. In 1962 he joined the Ministry of the Interior and eventually its division of Special Troops. He had been a member of the anti-Batista resistance and his then girlfriend, Urselia Díaz Báez, had died when a bomb she was planting at a theater accidentally exploded. Cuba's counterintelligence school was later named after him.
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Cubano que formó parte de la expedición, conocida como el desembarco de Machurucuto (por la playa venezolana donde tuvo lugar). quien murió en combate contra tropas del ejército y la Guardia Nacional de Venezuela. El grupo de una docena de guerrilleros, tres cubanos y nueve venezolanos entrenados en Cuba, formaban parte de una operación patrocinada por Cuba que buscaba derrocar al gobierno democráticamente electo de Rómulo Betancourt. Diez de los invasores murieron en combate incluyendo otros dos cubanos, Pedro Cabrera Torres y Gilberto Pico Rivers. Un joven teniente venezolano, William Ibarra (revolucionario), sostiene que Briones fue asesinado después de su captura. Briones había sido el fundador en agosto de 1963 de las Tropas Especiales del Ministerio del Interior de Cuba. Más tarde, la escuela de contrainteligencia de Cuba recibió su nombre.

Sources: Conflict of Evidence:

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

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

Occupations: - Military Specific Occupations

External Files: N/A

Relatives in Archive: N/A

Victim Type: - Internationalist - state agent: subversive/paramilitary/mercenary

Affiliations: N/A

Other Victims Same Event: - Case 6201: Pedro Cabrera Torres - Case 6143: Gilberto Pico Rivers

Case Record - Antonio Briones Montoto