The neuropsychologist Ileana de la Guardia, daughter of Colonel Tony de la Guardia, executed by the Castro regime in 1989, revealed in an interview with Tania Costa, in CiberCuba, that it was the wife of French President François Mitterrand who managed to get her uncle, Patricio de la Guardia, out of a punishment cell where his life was in danger.
Patricio de la Guardia Font, twin brother of Tony de la Guardia, was sentenced to 30 years in prison on July 7, 1989, as part of Case Number One, the most controversial judicial process of Castro's Cuba, which culminated in the execution of General Arnaldo Ochoa and three other officers, including Tony de la Guardia.
Ileana de la Guardia recounts that, after obtaining political asylum in France with her husband, they began to mobilize contacts with influence over the Cuban government to protect Patricio de la Guardia. "It is only thanks to our efforts with many people here, who had connections with the Cuban government —including the wife of President Mitterrand— that Médicos del Mundo and Danielle Mitterrand intervened, and then Patricio de la Guardia was taken out of the punishment cell," she declared.
The fear that her uncle would die in prison, as the former Minister of the Interior, José Abrantes, did, was the driving force behind those efforts. "We were very afraid that if we didn't take action to protect him, he could die," confessed Ileana de la Guardia.
The situation worsened when the regime began to spread rumors that Patricio de la Guardia was suffering from cancer. This prompted the family to demand an independent medical examination. According to Ileana de la Guardia, Fidel Castro agreed to this inspection solely because of the personal connections he had with Danielle Mitterrand. "Fidel Castro accepts this because of the good relations he had with the wife of the French president and simply accepts it for this reason."
Danielle Mitterrand, founder of France Libertés and a close figure to Castro since 1974, had previously attempted efforts for the release of Cuban political prisoners. According to archives of Le Monde, in 1995 she succeeded in securing the release of dissident Yndamiro Restano Díaz during a visit by the Cuban leader to France.
After leaving the punishment cell, Patricio de la Guardia did not immediately regain dignified conditions. He remained in isolation at the Guanajay prison and was later moved to an even more peculiar situation. “They take him out of Guanajay and place him in a special isolated house for detentions, out in the countryside, which isn’t even a farm, where he is alone in that house and the only ones there are some guards taking care of him,” described Ileana de la Guardia.
It was in that environment where Patricio de la Guardia began to recover slowly. The international and family pressure managed to get the regime to allow him to receive painting materials. "They allow him to receive his brushes, his paints, his materials for painting, and I believe that this gives him a bit of strength to keep waiting for the years to pass and for them to release him," his niece explained.
El País reported in August 1991 that Patricio de la Guardia had been detained in a prison between Güines and Melena del Sur, under strict isolation conditions and in a sealed cell, with only one hour of outdoor time per day.
Patricio de la Guardia was released in March 1997 to attend his father's funeral. He was told that he would be granted parole and placed under house arrest, but he was soon taken back to prison. His formal 30-year sentence was not officially extinguished until June 12, 2019. Ileana de la Guardia emphasizes that her uncle was convicted for not reporting his brother, Tony de la Guardia, knowing that the drug trafficking activities allowed on the shores of Cuba were authorized from the highest levels.
"Thirty-seven years have passed," concluded Ileana de la Guardia, whose family continues to seek justice for the executions of 1989.
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