Cuba Archive - Case 7186

Case ID: 7186

Title: N/A

First name: Armando

Last name: Hernández González

Suffix: N/A

Aliases: Nani

Name also reported as: N/A

Age: 29

Gender: Male

Date of Birth: N/A

Civil Status: Unknown

Date of death/disappearance: Day:1 / Month:10 / Year:1982

Citizenship: Cuba

Last known address: Las Piedras farm, Cotorro Municipality

Last known city: Havana

Last known province-TOD: N/A

Last known province current: N/A

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: 42 of 1981

Sentence details: Capital punishment

Arrest or detention at time of death: Yes

Date of arrest: N/A

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: N/A

Case description:

Following the tragic events of the Mariel boatlift, several members of the Toledo family began advocating that Cubans should work to bring about regime change from inside Cuba rather than seek exile. In August, Armando Hernández, his wife Odalys Toledo, his brother-in-law Ramon Toledo, and their parents were imprisoned. The two families' children (ages three, five, six, and seven) were left to their fifteen-year-old aunt, and were found by another set of grandparents three months later. The children were allowed to visit their parents very rarely, and they endured psychological abuse and humiliation by the prison guards during their visits. Often, they would spend the day waiting to see their parents from 7 A.M. to 4 P.M. without food, only to be told to go home, that the visit had been suspended. The group was accused of conspiring in an elaborate plot against Castro and of having arms. In a letter Armando wrote in prison on November 10th, 1981, he wrote the following: 'When I'm gone, I want my flag as my roof, the earth as my mother, and to breathe freedom'.
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Después de los trágicos eventos del éxodo del Mariel, varios miembros de la familia Toledo comenzaron a advocar que los cubanos deberían trabajar para lograr un cambio de régimen desde dentro de Cuba en lugar de buscar el exilio. En agosto, Armando Hernández, su esposa Odalys Toledo, su cuñado Ramón Toledo y sus padres fueron encarcelados. Los hijos de las dos familias (de tres, cinco, seis y siete años) fueron dejados con su tía de quince años, y fueron encontrados por sus abuelos tres meses después. A los niños se les permitía visitar a sus padres muy raramente y sufrieron abusos psicológicos y humillaciones por parte de los guardias de la prisión durante sus visitas. A menudo, pasaban el día esperando ver a sus padres desde las 7 a.m. hasta las 4 p.m. sin comida, solo para que le dijeran que se fueran a casa, que la visita había sido suspendida. El grupo fue acusado de conspirar en un elaborado complot contra Castro y de tener armas. En una carta que Armando escribió en prisión el 10 de noviembre de 1981, dijo lo siguiente: "Cuando me vaya, quiero mi bandera como mi techo, la tierra como mi madre y respirar libertad".

Sources: Conflict of Evidence:

WAQI-Radio Mambí, p. 72, reports him executed by firing squad on September 10, 1982. Both Gómez Estrada, 1980, p. 157, and WAQI-Radio Mambí, p. 97, report him executed by firing squad on December 14, 1981. Nuestra Cuba, 1998, p. 73, reports him executed by firing squad in La Cabaña Fortress prison on September 9, 1982.
United States Information Agency, 1993, Year 1982; Cuban American National Foundation, Quilt of Fidel Castro's Genocide, 1994; WAQI-Radio Mambí, p. 39; Beruvides, 1993, p. 121; and Circuito Sur, July 2002, pp. 38 and 41, report him as Armando González Hernández, executed April 27, 1982 at Combinado del Este prison. Both WAQI-Radio Mambí, p. 39; and Beruvides, 1993, p. 121, report an Armando González Hernández executed by firing squad at La Cabaña Fortress prison in Havana. Circuito Sur, July 2002, p. 41, reports an Armando González Hernández executed by firing squad at La Cabaña Fortress prison in September 1983. Circuito Sur, July 2002, p. 38, reports an Armando González Hernández  executed by firing squad at La Cabaña Fortress prison on April 27, 1962. Some of these sources report that an Armando González Hernández  infiltrated with a guerrilla group of Alpha 66 to start military operations against the Castro government and  executed on charges of belonging to the Cardo brothers and the Timoteo Toledo guerrilla bands operating in San José de Lajas.

Violation Status: Confirmed with primary source(s)

Cause of Death: - Execution: by firing squad

Occupations: - Architecture and Engineering Occupations

External Files: N/A

Relatives in Archive: - In-law in Case 7193: Ramón Toledo Lugo

Victim Type: - Prisoner / Detainee: Political cause

Affiliations: N/A

Other Victims Same Event: - Case 7193: Ramón Toledo Lugo

Case Record - Armando Hernández González