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The family of Rafael Del Pino Siero, an American citizen who was kidnapped, tortured, and executed by the Cuban regime, is seeking compensation exceeding 626 million dollars from the government of Havana for the crime committed against their relative nearly half a century ago.
According to an exclusive report from Telemundo 51, the case has gained new relevance following the formal charges against Raúl Castro and five former Cuban officials for the downing of the Brothers to the Rescue planes in 1996, which has created a favorable political climate for the family to break their silence and push for the enforcement of the sentence.
Del Pino Siero was a World War II veteran, who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in June 1950, and a personal friend of Fidel Castro since their time at the University of Havana in the 1940s. In 1956, he traveled to Mexico to join the planning of the insurgency alongside Fidel, Raúl Castro, and Che Guevara. However, he soon discovered the strong Soviet influence and KGB presence within the movement, broke ranks, and returned to Miami.
Since January 1959, he became one of the most active voices warning the American media about Castro's totalitarian intentions, who declared him a traitor and sent undercover spies to monitor him in Florida.
On July 25, 1959, a Castro agent deceived him under the pretext of rescuing a persecuted family in Cuba. Upon landing at 4:00 a.m. on a road outside Havana, he discovered the trap: military troops opened fire with machine guns, the aircraft erupted in flames, and he was rescued from the blaze with critical burns.
He was subjected to a farcical military trial lasting less than nine hours, defending himself from a stretcher in pajamas, and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He spent nearly two decades in the East Combined Prison enduring severe isolation and constant torture.
"He kidnapped an American citizen who was part of the armed forces here in the United States, took him to Cuba, tortured him for 17 years, and then killed him," denounced lawyer Oscar De La Rosa.
In 1977, when there were rumors of an agreement to release political prisoners, Del Pino spoke with his family, convinced that a reunion was imminent. Days later, Cuban authorities claimed that he had taken his life by hanging. However, forensic investigations and testimonies from other political prisoners confirmed in Florida courts that he was intentionally murdered.
His daughter Milagros Suárez, who was in her mother's womb when her father was deceived and taken to Cuba, remembers him with sorrow: "He had spoken to us two weeks ago and was very excited that he was finally coming to see us."
In 2008, a jury in Miami-Dade issued a guilty verdict against the Republic of Cuba, the Revolutionary Armed Forces, the Ministry of the Interior, and brothers Fidel and Raúl Castro. In December 2021, Judge María de Jesús Santovenia renewed the sentence, updating the amounts: $312.8 million for Milagros Suárez and $313.4 million for Lissette V. Oti, granddaughter and legal successor of Rafael Del Pino Jr.
The legal team, led by lawyer Francisco Rodríguez, is now aiming to freeze international assets that Venezuela manages for the benefit of Cuba, taking advantage of the current political climate.
"I have hope that one day justice will be served, and that I can give my father the justice he deserves so that he can rest in peace," said Milagros Suárez, who grew up knowing her father only through letters sent from the cells of the island.
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