Ileana de la Guardia, daughter of Colonel Antonio "Tony" de la Guardia Font —executed on July 13, 1989 along with General Arnaldo Ochoa in what is known as the First Case of the Castro regime— revealed in an interview with Tania Costa an episode that, in her opinion, demonstrates that the verdict of that trial was decided long before the formal proceedings began.
According to Ileana de la Guardia, before the judicial process began, Raúl Castro delivered a televised speech in which he dedicated a significant amount of time to criticizing General Ochoa, arguing that his opinions "did not correspond to the views of Cuba" and that "that kind of general" should move to Eastern Europe.
What followed was even more revealing, in her opinion. "Then, at one point, he says ‘Down with Ochoa!’ and slams his hand on the table,” recalls Tony de la Guardia's eldest daughter, describing the scene in detail.
However, in his opinion, the most striking moment came at the end of that intervention. According to the testimony of the neuropsychologist, Raúl Castro openly warned that "what will be published tomorrow in the newspaper Granma is not what I am saying here, it will be the official version."
That public confession that there would be one version for the regime and another for history is what Ileana de la Guardia describes as "impressive."
Adding to all this is a sentiment expressed by Tony de la Guardia's daughter: "It gives me the impression that Raúl Castro was even drunk, because it truly was a very disorganized, impulsive speech that repeated itself."
The speech was delivered before the formal start of the military trial, which began on June 30, 1989. For Ileana de la Guardia, this fact alone shows that the outcome —the four executions on July 13— had been prearranged by the regime.
The Number One Cause is regarded by analysts and family members of the convicted as a political purge orchestrated by the Castros to eliminate voices within the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior that supported the reforms of the Soviet Perestroika.
Ileana de la Guardia argues that her father spoke openly, before his arrest, about "the need for change" and how the Cuban communist system, like the Soviet one, "had not worked."
In that regard, the neuropsychologist is emphatic: "I believe it was a process in which Raúl Castro and Fidel Castro sought to eliminate that position within the Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior, positions that could perhaps be called 'perestroika', even though they never acknowledged it."
In his view, drug trafficking was merely a pretext. The real objective was to silence those within the military apparatus who questioned the continuity of the system.
Tony de la Guardia was 51 years old when he was executed. His twin brother, Patricio de la Guardia was sentenced to 30 years in prison in the same case. Later, in a parallel case, number 2, the then Minister of the Interior, José Abrantes, was tried, who died of a heart attack in prison.
Ileana de la Guardia describes the trial against her father and General Ochoa as a deliberate effort to "humiliate and degrade the image" of the accused to justify the executions, in a context where, in her words, there was no real legal protection or effective defense.
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