María Werlau, executive director of Archivo Cuba, recalled that the Armed Forces and the Cuban Coast Guard have been shooting at people attempting to flee the country by sea for decades, and that these deaths constitute extrajudicial killings documented by the organization.
His statements are part of the report "Cuba: the Human Cost of the Raúl Castro Regime," published by Archivo Cuba in March 2026 and highlighted on the occasion of Raúl Castro's 95th birthday.
"There are many deaths at sea that we consider very likely to be extrajudicial killings, where over the decades we know that the Armed Forces or the Cuban Coast Guard shoot at those who are trying to escape," Werlau stated in an interview with CiberCuba.
The researcher was emphatic in stating that this practice has no precedent in the Western Hemisphere.
"That is something I truly consider very atrocious, and it needs to be highlighted. To my knowledge, no dictatorship in this hemisphere has done that, has murdered civilians, let alone minors, simply for wanting to leave their country. That alone is the only crime, and it is barbaric," he emphasized.
The documents 365 deaths in attempts to leave Cuba during the period when Raúl Castro was in charge of the country, from 2006 to March 15, 2026.
As of March 2023, the organization had recorded 107 Cubans killed in incidents attributed to the Border Guard Troops, including shootings, collisions, and other events at sea.
Werlau warned that the documented figures represent only a fraction of reality: "Unfortunately, we know that there are categories where the numbers should be much higher, such as deaths in custody, which is very difficult to document because there is no access for conducting field studies; Cubans know this well."
The most emblematic case of this practice is the sinking of the tugboat "13 de Marzo" on July 13, 1994, when four Cuban state vessels pursued and rammed the ship that was carrying around 72 people attempting to flee the Island, resulting in the deaths of at least 35 individuals, including children. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights documented the case, and Amnesty International included it in its reports.
In this context, Werlau also addressed the charges filed on May 20 by the U.S. Department of Justice against Raúl Castro and five Cuban military officials for the downing of two aircraft from Hermanos al Rescate on February 24, 1996, which resulted in the death of four individuals.
"The accusation against Raúl Castro on May 20 is quite particular because there is very solid evidence that he was the one who gave the order, and he is no longer the head of state. Because heads of state, whether we like it or not, have certain immunities and cannot be prosecuted; that is not the case here," explained the researcher.
Werlau classified Raúl Castro as a "serial killer" and supported that claim with concrete data: in charge of the province of Oriente in January 1959, Castro himself
"They are individuals without due process of law whose only crime had been wearing the uniform of the Armed Forces of the National Police, who had not necessarily committed crimes, and if they had committed excesses, they deserved a trial," emphasized Werlau.
The Archivo Cuba report records a total of 8,267 deaths and disappearances for political reasons in Cuba since 1959, and 1,002 during the period of Raúl Castro, figures that the researcher believes represent only a fraction of the true human cost of more than seven decades of dictatorship.
Filed under: