Aureliano Sánchez Arango (7 June 1907 – 23 April 1976) was a Cuban

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and university professor. Sanchez served in the government of President

Carlos Prio Socarras Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewher ...

first as Minister of Education (1948–1951) and then as

Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

(1951–1952). In August 1951, Eduardo Chibas accused Sanchez of stealing children's breakfast funds to build a housing project in

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

. When Chibas could not prove his accusations, he committed suicide on live radio. After

Fulgencio Batista Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (; ; born Rubén Zaldívar, January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who served as the elected president of Cuba from 1940 to 1944 and as its U.S.-backed military dictator ...

overthrew Prio, Sanchez was involved in various undergrown movements to overthrow Batista. He was originally granted asylum in Mexico in 1952, After returning to Cuba to plan an assassination attempt against Batista, he was granted refuge at the Uruguayan embassy. He later helped finance

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

in overthrowing Batista and later went into permanent exile to the

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. He was married to Estrella Echeverria on January 22, 1936, at the Parish Church of Vedado, Havana, Cuba, who had two children, Alfredo and Delia (Lela) Sanchez Echeverria. His son, Alfredo Sanchez Echeverría (1936-12/15/2021) was ordered executed by the Castro regime but his sentence was commuted to 30 years and he served 14 years in prison (1961–1975). Sanchez Echeverria was allowed to go into exile in 1977, a few months after his father had died of a heart attack.

References

* ''Spokane Daily Chronicle''; Cuban Dies, 23 April 1976. * ''Sarasota Herald-Tribune''; Castro Frees Foe After 14 Years; 9 March 1975. * ''The Spokesman-Review''; Cuban Senator Shoots Himself; 6 August 1951. * (Spanish) 1907 births 1976 deaths Government ministers of Cuba Cuban prisoners sentenced to death Prisoners sentenced to death by Cuba 20th-century Cuban lawyers {{cuba-politician-stub