Firing Squad Executes Cuban Hero : Ex-General, 3 Others Shot for Roles in Drug Trafficking

MEXICO CITY —  Cuban war hero Arnaldo Ochoa Sanchez and three other former army officers were executed by firing squad today for shipping tons of drugs into the United States, the official Cuban news agency said.

The executions ended a court-martial and appeal process that revealed a ring in the army and Interior Ministry engaged in drug trafficking, black marketeering, smuggling and other crimes.

The Prensa Latina news agency said the four were executed at dawn in Cuba. In addition to Ochoa, a former army general, they included former Col. Antonio de la Guardia Font; former Maj. Armado Padron, and former Capt. Jorge Martinez.

Stripped of Ranks

They were sentenced to death last week, stripped of their military ranks and thrown out of the Communist Party.

Ochoa, 57, fought in the guerrilla war that brought Fidel Castro to power and was made a Hero of the Revolution, Cuba’s highest honor, for heading Cuba’s 50,000-man expedition in Angola and an earlier one to Ethiopia. Ochoa also headed a mission to Nicaragua’s leftist Sandinista government.

The defendants appealed their sentences to the Council of State. The council’s 29 members voted unanimously Sunday to uphold the death sentences.

Castro, giving a five-hour summation to the panel, said the four must face a firing squad to restore faith in the Cuban revolution, ensure discipline in the armed forces and set an example for others.

Prensa Latina quoted Castro as saying Wednesday that the accused “must have felt they were the most untouchable people in the world” since they were led by “a hero of the republic, a division general, a man with the prestige that Ochoa had.”

In addition to drug trafficking, they were convicted of treason and other crimes.

The court-martial also handed out prison sentences ranging from 10 years to 30 years to 10 other defendants in the case. They were stripped of rank and decorations and were dishonorably discharged.

The scandal shook Castro’s government, embarrassing him and the Communist Party. He had for years been denying U.S. accusations that his nation was being used for drug shipments, saying the reports were a plot to embarrass the revolution.

But he had to admit the accusations are true. In addition to the officers put on trial, the transportation and interior ministers have been sacked, and there have been unconfirmed reports that other officials were arrested.

Castro said the drug scandal did immense internal damage, eroded Cuba’s international image and crippled the tourism industry it has been trying to foster.