Andres Oppenheimer. aoppenheimer@herald.com. Published Thursday, August 3, 2000, in the Miami Herald
Imprisoned Cuban Gen. Patricio de la Guardia has suddenly been denied weekend visits to his 90-year-old mother's home in Havana, and his family is increasingly worried about his fate, relatives in Miami say.
De la Guardia's niece Ileana de la Guardia, whose father was executed by the Cuban government after a 1989 trial in which his twin brother Patricio was condemned to 30 years in prison, told The Herald she will provide details of her uncle's situation at a press conference today.
``We want to express our concern about his situation,'' she said. ``No member of the family has been able to see him for several weeks.''
Patricio de la Guardia's relatives say they are worried.
Patricio de la Guardia was sentenced by a military court for failing to denounce his brother's alleged connection to drug traffickers.
Four government officials were executed in the case, including Gen. Arnaldo Ochoa, an Angola war hero who was seen by many as a potential political rival of Cuban President Fidel Castro. Another general arrested in connection with the case, former minister and top Castro aide José
Abrantes, died mysteriously in prison in 1991.
Patricio de la Guardia has been kept in a military garrison for 11 years, but has been allowed weekend visits home since 1998, relatives say. The United Nations Human Rights Commission and most international human rights organizations groups have criticized his imprisonment and have asked for
his immediate release.
In a telephone call from Cuba, a foreign reporter who tried to see de la Guardia this week said the prisoner's family quoted Cuban officials as saying that he would not be able to receive visitors till Aug. 14.
Reporters in Havana speculated that the Cuban government wants to keep de la Guardia away from the dozens of foreign journalists in Cuba for the national celebrations in late July and early August.
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