Ramon Barquin | Pre-Castro rebel, 93
Ramon Barquin, 93, a Cuban officer who staged a coup attempt against U.S.-friendly dictator Fulgencio Batista before Fidel Castro, has died. He died Monday of leukemia at his home in Guaynabo, a suburb of San Juan, Puerto Rico, friend Emilio Guede said. A former Cuban military attache in Washington, Mr. Barquin was imprisoned after he led hundreds of soldiers in an April 1956 coup that failed when someone tipped off the government. He gained his freedom three years later when Castro successfully toppled Batista, but he opposed Castro soon after. Shortly after his release, Mr. Barquin moved to Miami and then to Puerto Rico in 1961 with a group of Cubans that included Guede. - AP
Ramon Barquin, 93, a Cuban officer who staged a coup attempt against U.S.-friendly dictator Fulgencio Batista before Fidel Castro, has died.
He died Monday of leukemia at his home in Guaynabo, a suburb of San Juan, Puerto Rico, friend Emilio Guede said.
A former Cuban military attache in Washington, Mr. Barquin was imprisoned after he led hundreds of soldiers in an April 1956 coup that failed when someone tipped off the government. He gained his freedom three years later when Castro successfully toppled Batista, but he opposed Castro soon after.
Shortly after his release, Mr. Barquin moved to Miami and then to Puerto Rico in 1961 with a group of Cubans that included Guede.
- AP