APP GRATIS

A young man who disappeared on July 12 is found dead: the Police said he was in prison

Christian Barrera Díaz, 24 years old and father of a 12-month-old baby, left his house in the direction of Playa Larga. His family never saw him again. The PNR says he died by drowning.

Christian Barrera Díaz fue encontrado supuestamente ahogado en Playa Larga. © Christian Díaz / Facebook
Christian Barrera Díaz was found supposedly drowned in Playa Larga. Photo © Christian Díaz / Facebook

This article is from 2 years ago

The Cuban guyChristian Barrera Diazwas found dead under dubious circumstances inCardenas. The young man, 24 years old, left his house this July 12 (one day after the 11J protests) in the direction of Playa Larga and on July 13 the family reported his disappearance.

At that moment the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) told the father that his son was imprisoned. A month later they tell him that it was a mistake, that they found him drowned and that he is now buried.

On July 12, Christian Barrera, father of a 12-month-old baby, decided to go to Sierrita beach (Playa Larga) to try to leave Cuba illegally.

That day, at dawn, the black berets arrived at Playa Larga, "delivering blows and throwing shots." Christian Barrera jumped into the water. Nothing was heard from him anymore, a witness to what happened told the family, who managed to escape.

The family went to the PNR several times, with the young man's identity card, until they were finally told that Christian Barrera was detained in Matanzas.

A month later they still hadn't heard from him. Everyone was worried. On Wednesday, August 4, they were given the news: Christian Barrera Díaz was never detained.

The family filed a complaint and at that time they were told that the young man had drowned; that they had found his body on July 15, three days after he disappeared, in a state of decomposition, so they did not proceed to identify him.

"They buried him and he no longer had a decent wake," complains a relative. "The family never knew anything. We all see that as very strange and we are not convinced by the way they acted in this case," they insist.

The relatives of Christian Barrera Díaz also assure that they will do everything possible to clarify the case. We are experiencing moments of great sadness and pain knowing that a loved one is gone. "He was a calm boy, a good person, hard-working, honest and with a good heart," they add.

Sister's suspicions

Christian Barrera's sister, Dianelys Barrera Taylor, who lives in Russia, has written a complaint asking that her brother's death be investigated in Cuba.

According to him, the young man was found drowned in Playa Larga on July 15, but he does not understand why the Police kept the case "secret."

She also explains that it was at the Cárdenas Police Unit (Matanzas), where they told her father, Rolando Barrera Morales, that his son Christian was imprisoned in Matanzas.

During all that time the family was looking for a transit permit to leave Cárdenas,Due to coronavirus restrictions,and looking for lawyers.

Until finally, on August 4, they searched for him in all the Matanzas prisons and Christian Barrera did not appear. After filing the complaint, on August 5, the PNR informed the father that they had a young man drowned, who had been at sea for three days and since they did not have fingerprints, they could not identify him.

"They buried him in a common grave on the 15th. They didn't take photos of him. They didn't show anything that he was my brother," laments the sister.

He also wonders why the Police told his father that his brother had been detained along with a group that was surprised in Playa Larga waiting for a flotilla to leave the country illegally.

He does not understand that they even confirmed to his father that Christian Barrera was imprisoned in Matanzas, in a place in Versalles, near the Maternal Home.

He also cannot understand why the Police themselves told the father to look for a lawyer.

She has many more doubts. For example, why is there no photo of the body or why did they not report in some way that they had an unidentified body.

All this leads her to think that it is possible that her brother died after receiving apolice beatingupon being surprised in Playa Larga.

"This cannot remain like this," he said.

The news of the death of Christian Barrera Díaz in circumstances not yet clarified was shared by activist Anamely Ramos on her Facebook wall.

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Tania Costa

(Havana, 1973) lives in Spain. He has directed the Spanish newspaper El Faro de Melilla and FaroTV Melilla. She was head of the Murcian edition of 20 minutes and Communications advisor to the Vice Presidency of the Government of Murcia (Spain).


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