MEXICO CITY, Mexico.- The name of Alejandro Castro Soto del Valleone of the five children of the late dictator Fidel Castro with Dalia Soto del Valle, came to light in an oral trial held in Cienfuegos, where they exposed their links with Cuban-American drug traffickers, as revealed by the independent media Cuban newspaper.
In the recordings of the trial, socialized by Cuban Diaryit is confirmed that in 2014 the Cuban-Americans Enrique Anicio Artiles Mata and Elvis Artiles Martin (father and son) were arrested and accused of drug trafficking in the United States and on the Island they maintained relations with officials of the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) and the Government and with Alejandro Castro Soto del Valle.
The Artiles traveled frequently to Cuba, they had family and friendship ties with five citizens, prosecuted a year after their arrest for the crimes of money laundering and falsification of documents, along with another resident in the United States.
In the trial held in the Provincial Court of Cienfuegos, on an unspecified date, charges were brought against Cuban residents Esbel Morejón Sánchez, Fausto Lázaro López Soler del Castillo, Elbis Blanco Mata, Jorge Luis Araújo López and Odalis Sabina Martín Cuéllar, for his involvement in the purchase of a home and a car for the Artiles. In addition, they were accused of managing their money in Cuba.
On the other hand, Maikel Omar Morejón Mata, a resident of the United States, was accused of counting and storing the money collected by Artiles Mata and Artiles Martin with drug trafficking.
Castro’s networks
As explained Cuban Diarythe Cuban authorities blamed the defendants for having – at least – suspected that the funds for the acquisition of the house, the car and others had not been obtained legally.
In their defense, the accused argued that this reason did not appear to them due to the simple fact that Enrique Anicio Artiles Mata was related to senior officials of the MININT and Castro.
“I met Alejandro Castro (Soto) del Valle, son of the commander in chief, Fidel Castro. He even visited my house on one occasion and sold Enrique a Toyota jeep (…) an exclusive olive green model. He and Enrique had very good relations,” Esbel Morejón Sánchez said at the trial.
However, the judge tried to avoid this information and asked the accused to “stick to the facts.”
Despite the insistence of the magistrates that he not refer to third parties, the accused stressed that “Castro Soto del Valle and Artiles Mata had very good relations ‘they visited each other, Enrique even gave him gifts'” and that “one night ‘ Alejandro spent the night at Enrique’s house.’”
In the opinion of the accused, Enrique had relationships “with this type of people, good people,” which is why he did not suspect his participation “in any illicit business, much less drug trafficking.”
Both López Soler del Castillo and Elbis Blanco Mata confirmed that “Enrique had relationships with high-ranking people, Fidel’s son, with I don’t know what general,” with “revolutionaries with tremendous careers” and “MININT agents.”
For his part, Jorge Luis Araújo López believed that Artiles Mata showed an image that resembled an agent of the Cuban State Security, since on one occasion, on December 26, 2013, upon arriving at Cienfuegos Airport, from Miami , “he was received by two jeeps, which for me belonged to the Ministry [del Interior]because they had an antenna, a radio plant, (…) with high-level people. One of those people was even Alejandro Castro, the son of the Commander in Chief.”
Ignoring the involvement of Castro’s son
The allegations, which sparked public comments, led the judge to threaten those present with expulsion: “The next time I have to scold because people are gossiping about what is being debated in the oral trial, “We are going to expel all the people who make up the public and we are going to continue the oral trial only with the accused and the parties.”
In a summary of the case, the independent Cuban media pointed out that the accused in Cuba were found guilty and received sanctions of between three and nine years in prison.
Artiles Mata and Artiles Martin were tried and convicted in Cuba “for this same cause in absentia, “in absentia” while they were being prosecuted in the United States.
However, Alejandro Castro Soto del Valle was neither called to appear at the trial nor was he considered as a witness, ensuring impunity for a drug trafficking crime.
“By ignoring these indications, the judge, the prosecutors and even the lawyers of the accused, not only guaranteed the impunity of alleged criminals, but also violated laws in force in Cuba,” he stated. Cuban newspaper.
