Cuba commutes death sentence of rebel exile

[Judi Lynn]

Cuba commutes death sentence of rebel exile
1 hour 52 mins ago

A former Cuban exile convicted of killing a man when he returned to the island to try to start a rebellion had his death sentence commuted Tuesday in the third such decision this month by Cuba's Supreme Court.

The court reduced the sentence of Humberto Eladio Real Suarez to 30 years, said Elizardo Sanchez of the independent Cuban Commission of Human Rights.

Real has been imprisoned since 1994 when he and six other exiles came to Cuba from Florida to organise an armed uprising against the communist-led government.

He was accused of killing a guard and stealing his car before police caught the group, heavily armed with pistols and automatic weapons.

More:
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20101229/tpl-uk-cuba-exile-43a8d4f.html

http://www.payolibre.com.nyud.net:8090/fotos/Humberto%20E.%20Real%20Suarez.jpg

Humberto Eladio Real Suarez as a young man.

[Judi Lynn]

1. Cuba commutes sentence of last death row inmate

28 December 2010 Last updated at 21:29 ET
Cuba commutes sentence of last death row inmate

Cuba's Supreme Tribunal has commuted the sentence of the country's last death row inmate, a rights group has said.

Humberto Eladio Real, a 40-year-old Cuban American, was convicted of killing a man in 1994 during an attempted insurgency raid.

The Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation commuted his sentence to 30 years in prison.

Cuba has had an effective moratorium on carrying out death sentences for years.

Earlier this month, two other death row inmates also had their sentences commuted.

Ernesto Cruz Leon and Otto Rene Rodriguez Llerena, both from El Salvador, had been convicted over a bombing campaign of tourism sites in Cuba in the 1990s which killed one Italian and injured 11 other people.

More:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12087865

[Peace Patriot]

2. Here's part of my New Year's wish list...

1. Obama commutes the sentences of all death row inmates in the U.S.

2. Obama commutes and releases from prison all non-violent offenders in the U.S., and commits a portion of the Defense budget to humane treatment and rehab for the rest, and to a "new start in life" for those released.

3. Obama announces that we've lost the corrupt, murderous, failed U.S. "war on drugs" and commits to a better solution than Prohibition-style MAYHEM and war profiteering.

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"You say that I'm a dreamer/ but I'm not the only one..." --John Lennon

Did you know that there is a life-sized statue of John Lennon in a Havana park with his name and those words inscribed upon it?

PHOTO: http://www.peterwerbe.com/cuba.htm

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:grouphug:

[Judi Lynn]

3. I remember when they had the ceremony for the new statue, with Fidel Castro present.

It was enormously well attended.

http://atlasobscura.com.nyud.net:8090/images/place/john-lennon-statue.7220.full.jpg
Originally it had a pair of wire-rimmed glasses on his face, but the pair disappeared right away, had to be replaced, and now it looks as if they're gone again.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com.nyud.net:8090/3008/2734789699_95a7719816.jpg http://cache.daylife.com.nyud.net:8090/imageserve/08PG8xn8HP1eF/350x.jpg

http://www.john-lennon.com.nyud.net:8090/castrolennonstatue.jpg http://www.john-lennon.com.nyud.net:8090/castrovillastatue.jpg

Sculptor Jose Villa sits with Fidel Castro during the ceremony, on the 20th anniversary of Lennon's murder.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com.nyud.net:8090/3275/2847924953_21503228b5_m.jpg

Beatles record producer, Sir George Martin sits with John Lennon statue.

~snip~
Ever since thieves twice swiped the iconic round-rimmed spectacles from Havana's John Lennon statue eight years ago, four retirees have rotated 12-hour, round-the-clock shifts to ensure they don't go missing again.

"You have to be here every day because the day you aren't, there the glasses go," said watchman Juan Gonzalez, an 89-year-old retired filing clerk who smokes up to seven cigars a day guarding the bronze statue from a nearby bench.

http://fifthbeatle.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=beatles&action=print&thread=339

[dipsydoodle]

4. Another one here too in Guardalavaca

[Judi Lynn]

6. Beautiful! Never knew it was there. Thank you. n/t

[Peace Patriot]

5. Great pix of George Martin! Never saw that before! Thanks! nt

[Judi Lynn]

7. It was nice of him to make the effort to go there and honor the occassion. n/t