Jesús Sosa Blanco

Jesús Sosa Blanco (1907/08 – February 18, 1959) was a colonel in the Cuban army under Fulgencio Batista.

After Fidel Castro came to power on February 16, 1959, Sosa was arrested and charged with having committed 108 murders for Batista. His show trial took place in the Havana Sports Palace, before 17,000 spectators. The trial was televised.[1] Many of those who accused him of crimes had contradicting statements. Prior to his execution he was heard to say that the scenes were "worthy of ancient Rome". [2]

On February 18, he was found guilty and executed. After his trial, other trials and executions were no longer broadcast live. Gabriel García Márquez attended the trial and execution and used the incident as the basis for his 1975 novel, The Autumn of the Patriarch.

In Rachel Kushner's 2008 novel Telex from Cuba, Sosa Blanco is described as having been convicted and imprisoned for murdering his wife, mother-in-law and sister-in-law before Batista released him to help establish the Rural Guard.

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References
  1. Chase, Michelle (2010). "The Trials". In Greg Grandin; Joseph Gilbert (eds.). A Century of Revolution. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press. pp. 163–198. ISBN 0822347377. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  2. Courtois, Stephane, Nicolas Werth, Jean-Louis Panne, Karel Bartosek, and Jean-Louis Margolini. The Black Book of Communism Crimes, Terror, Repression. 2nd ed. Cambridge, Massachusetts: President and Fellows of Harvard College, 1999. Print.
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