Havana/Former lieutenant colonel of the Ministry of the Interior Jorge Luis Vega García, known as Veguitawas deported to Cuba on November 6, as confirmed to Martí News sources close to the case. The retired officer – singled out for decades for his role in acts of violence in Cuban prisons – had entered the United States legally in January 2024 under the parole humanitarian.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) public detention records no longer show his name, confirming that the removal process has been completed. His deportation occurs months after an immigration judge in Miami ordered his departure from the country, after his arrest on August 5, 2025.
The presence in the United States of Vega García – who directed maximum security prisons such as Agüica, in Matanzas, and Canaleta, in Ciego de Ávila – generated widespread rejection among former political prisoners, activists and human rights organizations. For his critics, his entry into the country illustrated the flaws in the verification mechanisms of the immigration program that allowed him to arrive at the Tampa airport in early 2024.
The revelation of their presence in United States territory occurred after end of julyafter an investigation of Martí News that tracked down documents signed by Vega García and testimonies from victims that identified him as an official with operational command in the Cuban prison system.
Among those celebrating the move were two central figures of the 2003 Black Spring
The testimonies collected point to him as one of the most feared officers in the prisons where he worked. Former political prisoners accuse him of ordering beatings, prolonging punishments in solitary confinement and using common inmates to harass imprisoned opponents.
Cuban-American researcher Luis Domínguez, who tracked his movements in the country, described the deportation as a relevant event for the exile community, considering that “a man with that history cannot stay in the United States enjoying the freedom that he denied to so many.”
Among those celebrating the move were two central figures of the 2003 Black Spring, Fidel Suárez Cruz and Blas Giraldo Reyes, who served long sentences in prisons under the command of Veguita.
“After almost 20 years, justice has knocked on his door,” said Suárez Cruz, who said he had suffered beatings that left him with permanent scars. For his part, Giraldo Reyes declared that in the United States “people who participated in acts of repression have no place.” The Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba included Vega García on its list of alleged repressors for years, providing internal documents from the Ministry of the Interior that confirm his role in the prison system.
Although the deportation process has already been completed, the victims insist that the measure does not replace the need for a judicial process
Journalist and former political prisoner Pablo Pacheco Ávila, member of the Group of 75, recalled one of the most serious episodes attributed to the officer: the case of a young inmate who, anticipating a beating allegedly ordered by Veguita and another officer, jumped from a third floor to avoid punishment.
Other testimonies suggest that Vega García continued to rise within the Interior until his retirement. Former prison officer Lainersy Ávila Castro confirmed that the former lieutenant colonel held positions of authority within the prison system before leaving the country.
Although the deportation process has already been completed, the victims insist that the measure does not replace the need for a judicial process. “This cannot be resolved with a simple deportation. We demand justice,” Suárez Cruz reiterated.
