The following information is taken from four Latin American Regional Reports: Caribbean Report articles from July to November 1989 which outline a sweeping purge of the Cuban political and military hierarchy, officially motivated by the fight against individuals involved in a drug trafficking scandal, but also perceived as a ferocious campaign against officers critical of the regime and corruption in general.

The 20 July 1989 issue of Caribbean Report mentions General Arnaldo Ochoa Sánchez' aide-de-camp, Colonel Antonio Rodríguez, as having been put on trial along with the four accused top military officials. The article also reports that Diocles Torralba, former transport minister and vice-president of the council of ministers and Idalberto Gálvez Richard, an official at the tourism ministry, have "also been accused of involvement in the officers' drug smuggling ring" (1989, 2).

The 24 August 1989 issue of Caribbean Report mentions the names of top officials of the Cuban interior ministry (Minint) who resigned or were dismissed in the wake of the drug scandal. Minint's intelligence chief, General German Barreiro resigned along with five other officials of the Minint, all with the rank of general. All except Barreiro were later demoted to the rank of colonel and dismissed from the army. They are: Amado Valdés González, Miguel Bermejo Labrada, Félix Véliz Hernández, Manuel Suárez Alvarez and Arsenio Franco Villanueva (2).

The article also reports that an individual named Oscar Parvenir "head of an organisation 'very closely linked to the interior ministry', authorized to deal in foreign exchange" was also arrested. The purge also included Vicente Gómez López, president of the Instituto de Aeronáutica Civil de Cuba (IACC), the country's civil aviation ministry who was dismissed in early July and Levi Farah Balmaseda, the minister of construction industry materials, who was removed from his post in early August. The article also mentions Diocles Torralba as "one of the first to be accused of involvement with the military officers' drug smuggling ring. He has since been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment" (ibid., 2).

The 18 September 1989 issue of Caribbean Report adds to the list other top officials of the Ministry of the Interior allegedly linked to the drug scandal who were condemned to imprisonment at the beginning of September 1989. Former interior minister General José Abrantes Fernández was sentenced to 20 years; General Pascual Martinez Gil, who resigned as Minint's vice minister in mid-July was sentenced to 12 years (both were expelled from the Communist Party) (2).

Other Minint officials sentenced include: General Roberto González Caso, former chief of immigration (10 years); Lieutenant-colonel Oscar Carreño Gómez, former head of customs (7 years); Lieutenant-colonel Rolando Castañeda Izquierdo (6 years); and Lieutenant-colonel Manuel Gil Castellanos (5 years); Hector Carbonell Méndez, former director of a business enterprise linked to the Minint was sentenced to eight years imprisonment for improper use of government funds, bribery and illegal possession of weapons; Colonel Rafael Alvarez Cueto, head of Minint's directorate of finance, committed suicide in August 1989 (ibid., 2).

The 2 November 1989 Caribbean Report states that former General Patricio de la Guardia, brother of Colonel Antonio de la Guardia, was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment and former Colonel Alexis Lago to 25 years (2).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Latin American Regional Reports: Caribbean Report [London]. 20 July 1989. "Cuba: Régime Shaken by Drugs Scandal."

_____. 24 August 1989. "Cuba: Purge Continues After Executions."

_____. 18 September 1989. "Cuba: Abrantes Gets Stiff Prison Sentence."

_____. 2 November 1989. "Cuba: Castro Reviews Minint Shake-Up."

Latin American Regional Reports: Caribbean Report [London]. 20 July 1989. "Cuba: Régime Shaken by Drugs Scandal," pp. 2-3.

_____. 24 August 1989. "Cuba: Purge Continues After Executions," p. 2.

_____. 18 September 1989. "Cuba: Abrantes Gets Stiff Prison Sentence," p. 2.

_____. 2 November 1989. "Cuba: Castro Reviews Minint Shake-Up," p. 2.