Legal aspects of the trial and exchange of mercenaries captured in Playa Giron (Part 1).
President John F. Kennedy had to admit his government’s involvement in the interventionist adventure. The trial of the mercenaries of Playa Girón, a technically perfect juridical act, demonstrated the characteristics and methods of revolutionary justice.
Sixty-two years ago, on March 29th, 1962, the summary trial began against the mercenaries captured during the invasion of Playa Giron, in a 66-hour operation carried out by the regular forces of the Cuban army and the National Militias on the rise, with Commander Fidel Castro at the helm.
The then Revolutionary Tribunal was presided over by Commander Augusto Martínez Sánchez, with the participation of doctors Santiago Cuba and Antonio Cejas, acting as prosecutor and defense attorney, respectively. Commanders Juan Almeida Bosque, Guillermo García Frías, Sergio del Valle Jiménez and Manuel Piñeiro Losada served as members.
From the beginning, it was an extremely fair trial, which added to the impeccable treatment that the prisoners of war had received, in accordance with the national and international laws respected by Cuba, even though at that time the trial was manipulated and criticized by enemy defamatory campaigns.
The trial began almost a year after the resounding defeat of the invaders paid and armed by the United States and the sentence was handed down on April 7th, 1962, in accordance with the principles stated by the leader of the Cuban Revolution when he explained that the revolutionaries would never be encouraged by the thirst for revenge or hatred.
Among the sanctions requested were the loss of Cuban citizenship, for committing acts of treason, and imprisonment with compulsory labor, for charges carrying sentences of up to 30 years, unless compensation was paid, the form and amount of which would be specified later.
In its ruling, the court imposed a joint sanction on the mercenaries amounting to 62 million 300 thousand dollars, which the U.S. government began to pay in medicines and food for children, although it finally failed to deliver close to two million.
This was a moral victory for Cuba, when for the first time in history the United States admitted paying compensation for war damages.
The then U.S. president, John F. Kennedy, had to publicly admit his government’s active participation in the aggressive and interfering adventure directed against the Cuban Revolution. The trial of the Bay of Pigs mercenaries, a technically perfect juridical act, demonstrated the characteristics and methods of revolutionary justice.
Written by Dr. Osvaldo M Torres.
