Cuba Archive - Case 8870

Case ID: 8870

Title: N/A

First name: Olga Digna

Last name: Fernández Cañizares de Arufe

Suffix: N/A

Aliases: N/A

Name also reported as: Digna Arufe Olga Digna Fernández Canizares de Arufe, Digna Aruf, Olga Digna Fernández Cañizares de Arufe

Age: 31

Gender: Female

Date of Birth: Day:16 / Month:7 / Year:1929

Civil Status: Unknown

Date of death/disappearance: Day:21 / Month:4 / Year:1961

Citizenship: Cuba

Last known address: N/A

Last known city: Miramar

Last known province-TOD: La Habana

Last known province current: La Habana

Last known country: Cuba

Location death-address: N/A

Location of death - city: Marianao

Location of death province - at TOD: La Habana

Location of death province - current: Ciudad de La Habana

Location of death - country: Cuba

Trial held?: No

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: N/A

Associated Event: Anti-Castro insurgency/resistance

Case description:

Olga Digna and her new husband, Marcial Arufe, were part of the Unidad Revolucionaria resistance group. They had opposed the Batista dictatorship and had initially been supporters of the Castro government, but had later joined the resistance. Having been alerted that they were about to be captured by government security agents, they were shot while trying to reach the Argentinian embassy to request asylum (as reported to the family by a worker at the embassy). The Castro government claims they resisted arrest in a Havana apartment full of arms and eyewitness accounts corroborate they fought for hours and were finally shot in the bathroom of the apartment, where they had retreated. The bodies were identified by Tomás Cañizares, Olga Digna'’s uncle, who was taken by the government to the apartment where the alleged shootout took place. Both bodies had numerous gunshots. Eyewitnesses at the scene reported the following day to Olga’'s brother (Armando Fernández Cañizares) that they had seen the bodies taken into the apartment. This brother was detained for two days for trying to gather information on the case. The government did not allow a joint funeral and only permitted the closest of Olga Digna's family members to attend her services at a designated funeral home. Her mother was detained for a short period and all photos she had of her daughter were confiscated and never returned to the family. Miguel Ángel Arufe, Marcial’s brother, was framed on false charges and sent to prison for twenty years. His sentence was commuted after serving two-and-a-half years when his mother filed for trial revision.
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Olga Digna y su nuevo esposo, Marcial Arufe, formaban parte del grupo de resistencia Unidad Revolucionaria. Se habían opuesto a la dictadura de Batista e inicialmente habían sido partidarios del gobierno de Castro, pero luego se habían unido a la resistencia. Habiendo sido alertados de que estaban a punto de ser capturados por agentes de seguridad del gobierno, planearon llegar a la embajada argentina para solicitar asilo pero fueron baleados antes de poder entrar (según informó a la familia un trabajador de la embajada). El gobierno de Castro afirma que se resistieron al arresto en un apartamento de La Habana lleno de armas y  testigos presenciales corroboraron que lucharon durante horas y finalmente fueron baleados en el baño del apartamento, donde se habían retirado. Los cadáveres fueron identificados por Tomás Cañizares, tío de Olga Digna, quien fue trasladado por el gobierno al departamento donde se produjo el presunto tiroteo. Ambos cuerpos tenían numerosos disparos. Testigos presenciales en el lugar informaron al día siguiente al hermano de Olga (Armando Fernández Cañizares) que habían visto los cuerpos llevados al apartamento. Este hermano estuvo detenido dos días por intentar recabar información sobre el caso. El gobierno no permitió un funeral conjunto y solo permitió que los miembros de la familia de Olga Digna más cercanos asistieran a sus servicios en una funeraria designada. Su madre estuvo detenida por un corto período y todas las fotos que tenía de su hija fueron confiscadas y nunca regresaron a la familia. Miguel Ángel Arufe, hermano de Marcial, fue incriminado por cargos falsos y enviado a prisión por veinte años. Su sentencia fue conmutada después de cumplir dos años y medio cuando su madre solicitó la revisión del juicio.

Sources: Conflict of Evidence:

Violation Status: Confirmed with primary source(s)

Cause of Death: - Extrajudicial killing

Occupations: - Office and Administrative Support Occupations

External Files: N/A

Relatives in Archive: - Spouse in Case 2526: Marcial Arufe Delgado

Victim Type: - Anti-Castro insurgent or resistance member

Affiliations: - Unidad Revolucionaria

Other Victims Same Event: - Case 2526: Marcial Arufe Delgado

Case Record - Olga Digna Fernández Cañizares de Arufe