On October 9, 1971, the February 27 neighborhood mourned the disappearance and subsequent murder of five young members of the cultural sports club Hector J. Diaz at the hands of the feared criminal group known as “The band”.
The unfortunate event occurred in the early hours of October 9, when youngsters Rubén Darío Sandoval, Reyes Florentino Santa, Radhamés Peláez Tejada, Gerardo Bautista and Víctor Fernando Checo were returning from the wake of one of the club members who had died in a traffic accident. .
The 5 young people, whose ages do not exceed 21 years, were walking in the vicinity of Albert Thomas streets, almost on the corner of Padre Castellanos, when members of “La Banda” aboard two vehicles, including a gray Datsun, kidnapped them and later massacred.
The first two victims of the massacre were: Rubén Darío Sandoval, just 16 years old, who received 4 bullet wounds, three of them in the head; and Reyes Florentino Santana, 19, who also died as a result of two gunshot wounds. Both bodies were found in the section of Quita Sueño, Manoguayabo hours after the kidnapping.
Sandoval and Florentino Santana were followed by their clubmates: Gerardo Bautista, Radhamés Peláez Tejada and Víctor Fernando Checo, these last two before dying were subjected to a series of tortures including: the detachment of their genital organs and the burning of almost the whole body.
Those responsible for carrying out this massacre were: the former secret department sergeant, Diógenes Núñez (Sergeant Tito), Alejandro Félix Liriano (Nose), Gregorio Francisco Diloné (Head) and Eddy Antonio Martínez (The navel).
According to some versions, the four individuals committed the crime to avenge the death of former member of “La Banda”, Ignacio E. Vargas, who had been fatally shot 3 days earlier on Albert Thomas Street at the hands of unknown individuals.
The reprehensible event cost the Head of the National Police at that time, General Enrique Pérez y Pérez, who was preceded by Neit Rafael Nivar Seijas. This immediately ordered the arrest of the leaders of “La Banda”, who were brought to justice; but in the end the act went unpunished.
In honor of the five young people of the Héctor J. Díaz club, President Salvador Jorge Blanco instituted the date of October 9 as the “Day of the clubs”.
