Joaquín Casillas Lumpuy (November 24, 1907January 2, 1959) was a soldier, and

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

, in the Cuban Constitutional Army who in 1948 was convicted of murdering the union leader

Jesús Menéndez Jesús Menéndez also known as Chaparra is a municipality and town in the Las Tunas Province of Cuba. It was named after the Cuban trade unionist . Demographics In 2004, the municipality of Jesús Menéndez had a population of 51,002. With a tota ...

and probably executed on the day of the triumph of the Cuban Revolution.

Biography

Joaquín Casillas made himself known after the assassination of influential sugar union leader and congressman Jesús Menéndez on January 22 of 1948, during the presidency of

Ramón Grau Ramón Grau San Martín (13 September 1881 in La Palma, Pinar del Río Province, Spanish Cuba – 28 July 1969 in Havana, Cuba) was a Cuban physician who served as President of Cuba from 1933 to 1934 and from 1944 to 1948. He was the last pres ...

. Jesús Menéndez had redoubled union efforts against the government due to the drastic reduction in the percentage of the "sugar differential," a historic labor achievement that kept the price of sugar and wages up to date. The government then ordered his arrest, because of the obvious act of provocation. Menéndez felt that he was able to lead Union demonstrations against the government without fear of retaliation from the government due to the immunity that he enjoyed from his capacity as representative to the Chamber for the Popular Socialist Party. On the 22nd of January 1948, then Captain Joaquín Casillas got on the train in

Manzanillo, Cuba Manzanillo is a municipality and city in the Granma Province of Cuba. By population, it is the 14th-largest Cuban city and the most populated one not being a provincial seat. Geography It is a port city in the Granma Province in eastern Cuba on t ...

in which Menéndez was traveling in with the intention of arresting him. Due to his immunity, the union leader rejected the arrest order as illegal and refused to follow the soldier, turning his back to him. Casillas then shot him in the back, killing him. Captain Casillas was tried and found guilty of the murder in case 91 of 1948. The lawyer for the Menéndez family was Carlos Rafael Rodríguez. Casillas's defense attorney during the case was

José Miró Cardona José Miró Cardona (22 August 1902 – 10 August 1974) was a Cuban politician. He served as Prime Minister for a period of some six weeks in early 1959, following his appointment by President Manuel Urrutia on 5 January 1959. On 13 February ...

, who between January 5 and February 16 of 1959 would be the first prime minister of the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in cou ...

, and later in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

he would be the leader of a

Cuban exile A Cuban exile is a person who emigrated from Cuba in the Cuban exodus. Exiles have various differing experiences as emigrants depending on when they migrated during the exodus. Demographics Social class Cuban exiles would come from various eco ...

committee called the

Cuban Revolutionary Council The Cuban Revolutionary Council (CRC) was a group formed, with CIA assistance, three weeks before the April 17, 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion to "coordinate and direct" the activities of another group known as the Cuban Democratic Revolutionary Front ...

. Soon Casillas was released. In 1958, during the Cuban Revolution, Colonel Joaquín Casillas received the order from President

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 ...

to defend Santa Clara and stop the

26th of July Movement The 26th of July Movement ( es, Movimiento 26 de Julio; M-26-7) was a Cuban vanguard revolutionary organization and later a political party led by Fidel Castro. The movement's name commemorates its 26 July 1953 attack on the army barracks on San ...

guerrillas that were advancing on

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

. On January 1, 1959, after the

Battle of Santa Clara The Battle of Santa Clara was a series of events in late December 1958 that led to the capture of the Cuban city of Santa Clara by revolutionaries under the command of Che Guevara. The battle was a decisive victory for the rebels fighting ag ...

he was detained by guerrilla fighters under the command of

Che Guevara Ernesto Che Guevara (; 14 June 1928The date of birth recorded on /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ernesto_Guevara_Acta_de_Nacimiento.jpg his birth certificatewas 14 June 1928, although one tertiary source, (Julia Constenla, quoted ...

and was killed the next day. The official cause of death indicates that Casillas died while trying to escape, but it is highly probable that he was simply executed.Anderson: 355.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Casillas, Joaquin 1907 births 1959 deaths People from Sancti Spíritus Cuban military personnel Cuban anti-communists People of the Cuban Revolution 1950s in Cuba