Just days after the guerrillas commanded by Fidel Castro began their descent from their hiding places in the Sierra Maestra Mountains in the province of Oriente, a large group of men – identified as sympathizers of the previous regime or members of the armed forces or police – was rounded up in the capital city of the same province (Santiago de Cuba). Fidel Castro’s brother Raúl had arrived with his bearded troops in olive green fatigues to that city and had assumed command.

In what was to become a routine and ominous action of the new regime, a “Revolutionary Summary Trial” was set up for 72 of these men. No evidence other than a few shouting witnesses; no defense; no chance for a rebuttal. Journalist Llano Montes, who was reporting about the trial on behalf of “Carteles” magazine, witnessed when Raúl Castro interrupted the sham proceedings of the Tribunal and calmly said: “If one is guilty, they ALL are guilty. They all are sentenced to be shot!”

On the night of January 11, 1959, the 72 men were taken by truck to the military garrison of Santiago de Cuba. In the shooting range of the base, a large trench was hurriedly dug out by a bulldozer. The seventy two men were lined up at the edge of the trench and and machine-gunned during the early morning hours of January 12, 1959. Their corpses were rapidly buried by the same bulldozer under piles of dirt.

Here is an incomplete list. If more names are identified, they will be added.

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