Miami man awarded more than $1B in suit against Fidel Castro, Che Guevara

[Scurrilous]

Source: Miami Herald

<snip>

"In what is considered the largest civil judgment against the Cuban government, a Miami-Dade judge on Friday awarded more than $1 billion to a Miami man who blamed Fidel Castro and his Cuban revolutionary sidekick Che Guevara for his father's suicide in 1959.

"What they did was torture this family and tear it apart," Miami-Dade Judge Peter Adrien said in siding with Gustavo Villoldo, a former CIA operative who had tracked down Guevara in the jungles of Bolivia.

Said Villoldo: "You have brought closure to us after 50 years. Justice has prevailed."

Jeremy Alters, Villoldo's attorney, said he and his client will now attempt to get the money from the frozen assets of the Cuban government. Those assets are in financial institutions throughout the world.

The funds may be almost impossible to obtain -- at least in the United States. Most of those assets identified by the Treasury Department in a Cuban bank account in New York were paid out in the Brothers to the Rescue case and in two other Miami cases."

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/459/story/1072032.html?mi_pluck_action=comment_submitted&qwxq=3144137#Comments_Container

[tomm2thumbs]

1. I can't imagine the awards to be given by the US Govt related to Gitmo et al

How can our court system go after other countries but we somehow deny any culpability in crimes against those outside the country by the US Govt?

[Downwinder]

2. Miami-Dade judge

[montanto]

3. Hypocrisy? Us? Noooooooo.

[frylock]

4. you've got to be fucking shitting me..

Villoldo's suit against Castro and Guevara was rooted in the Cuban government's actions against a business owned by Gustavo Villoldo's father, also named Gustavo.

Back in 1959, Guevara was named head of Cuba's Banco Nacional and immediately began dismantling all traces of capitalism.

A main target: a General Motors distributorship owned by Villoldo's father. Guevara told Villoldo that his father's company would be seized. It left the family ruined financially.

Three weeks later, Villoldo's heartbroken father ended his life by swallowing a bottle of sleeping pills.

[Duer 157099]

8. Seems I've been readling lots of similar stories lately

Almost every week for the past year or so, seems we hear about a suicide (and often murder suicide) precipitated by the current economic situation.

But will anyone here ever be culpable?

[frylock]

12. exactly..

so if one of the owners of a closed GM dealership takes their life, who pays that family?

[AlphaCentauri]

14. Republicans. /nt

[AlphaCentauri]

13. Now we can suit the US government on the basis that many people is in misery

because the previous administration didn't act to regulate the financial markets.

There must be a lot people who have die for the poor health treatment they receive when they don't have health insurance.

[NBachers]

5. Uuuuhhh let's see . . . any connection to other historical events

that may be in the public dialogue these days?

Anyone????

Naaaah . . .

[depakid]

6. Florida at it again, I see

[blueclown]

7. Chalk this up as a lawsuit that the wingnut right certainly doesn't mind. n/t

[IndianaGreen]

9. What a frakking CIA death squad pig!

And the same goes for the terrorist organization known as Brothers to the Rescue.

[heliarc]

10. Don't forget Alpha-66 nt

[David__77]

11. I want an award of $1 billion against Francisco Franco.

I'm sure I can find grounds as well... ugh...

[ngant17]

15. The US gov. owes Cuba over several hundred billion dollars

in a lawsuit filed on behalf of the victims of terrorist attacks that originated from the USA. This happened about ten years ago, if memory serves me. The Republic of Cuba gave the US an opportunity to defend itself in this lawsuit, but it chose not to do that. Cuba won by default.

[Mika]

17. This Miami kangaroo court put Castro, Che, Cuba on "trial" - in absentia.

Since the who event occurred in Cuba, doesn't jurisdiction belong in Cuba (according to Geneva convention)?

WTF gives a US court any jurisdiction in this case?... oh that's right. Its Cuba. The US continues to treat Cuba as American occupied territory.

The Platt Amendment, 1903
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/platt.htm


US OUT OF CUBA NOW!

---

[toopers]

16. Remember, this is not the US Government's lawsuit . . .

this is an individual's lawsuit.

[Infinite Hope]

18. 1 billion dollars is ridiculous. Monday doesn't repair lost family members. That individual just...

wants money. G-R-E-E-D.

[Judi Lynn]

20. Impossible to believe it could take the a-hole FIFTY YEARS to move on this

if it had been a burning issue for the son.

It has all the sincerity of the charges brought against Cuba by an enterprising Cuban-American woman who married a man who went to South Florida to infiltrate an anti-Cuba terrorist organization which had been preying on Cuban citizens in Cuba for years, so they could defend against their future raids and murders. This woman sued Cuba and won for the man's sexual relations with her in marriage. She claimed she had been raped because he was in Florida under false premises, working for Cuba. She won. Big time.

[Infinite Hope]

22. Good grief. That is absurd. Thanks for sharing. n/t

[Judi Lynn]

25. Here's a story which covers the situation quite well, to fill in any blank spots:

Last Updated: Friday, 16 May, 2003, 22:37 GMT 23:37 UK
Wronged woman gets Cuban assets

By Fergal Parkinson
BBC correspondent in Miami

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk.nyud.net:8090/media/images/39230000/jpg/_39230901_anagrab203body.jpg

Ana Martinez saw her ex-husband
feted as a hero in Cuba

On the edge of Key West, Florida, sit three ageing Cuban planes.

The planes, one of which dates back to the 1940s, recently arrived here after they were hijacked on the communist island and brought here by people fleeing the regime.

But in a few weeks they will be auctioned off, and the proceeds will be given directly to a Miami woman who has successfully sued Fidel Castro's government for $27m.

Sitting in her pristine Miami home, Ana Martinez showed me photographs of happier times.

Eight years ago she met and married a man called Juan Pablo Roque, a former Cuban air force officer who defected to the United States.

"I first met him at church. He had recently arrived from Cuba a few days prior and he was welcomed as a hero in the community. However, I eventually found out that it was all a farce," she said.

Our man in Havana

The dashing Cuban she had married turned out to be a spy.

Less than a year after they walked down the aisle together he disappeared, resurfacing a few days later in Havana, where he was treated to a hero's welcome. The event was even carried live on Cuban television.

Ms Martinez, feeling betrayed, then decided to take a very unusual course of action. She decided to sue the Cuban Government.

"With my attorneys we decided to file a complaint against the Cuban Government for rape.

"In the state of Florida rape is defined as sex without consent, and since my consent was procured fraudulently it's not valid. The judge agreed and awarded me $27m."

More:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2994417.stm

Pathetic. Only in Miami!

[mitchum]

19. A ruling by a Miami-Dade judge held hostage by those motherfucking Miami thugs

I imagine that was quite an impartial ruling

[Judi Lynn]

21. A judge who didn't want to live with the constant threat of being car-bombed! n/t

[Mika]

24. A future Florida supreme court judge.

Like Jeb's appointment of Batista's grandson to the Fl Supreme court.

Unfortunately, the Dems play the anti Castro card just as much as the repugs.

Demonizing Cuba is good for the politics business.

[w4rma]

23. 1 billion? For a suicide? That's ridiculous. (nt)

[xchrom]

26. i expect then to very similar suits against enron, AIG, several

savings and loans operations, etc.