A truth that the Castro dictatorship tried to hide for decades is coming to light following the confessions of Carlos Lehder, the founder of the Medellín cartel.
This former drug trafficker served 33 years in US prisons after being extradited on February 4, 1987 following an alleged betrayal by Pablo Escobar.
He currently lives in Frankfurt, Germany. He is 74 years old and has an amazing memory, able to recount in detail every single step of the criminal organization to which he was a part.
The power that Colombia's bosses gained was thanks to several governments in the region, including the dictatorship of Fidel and Raúl Castro Ruz.
This emerges from an article in the Colombian magazine Semana, which reaffirms that rulers such as Daniel Ortega (Nicaragua) or General Manuel Antonio Noriega (Panama) supported the Medellín cartel.
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The journalistic material dated January 13, 2024 cites statements by Carlos Lehder, who claims that these left-wing regimes, including that of the Castro brothers, received millions of dollars from the sale of cocaine.
Colonel Antonio “Tony” from the Guard to Carlos Lehder: “We need all the dollars we can get”
One of Fidel and Raúl Castro's macabre ideas was to blame other members of the military leadership for the drug trade in Cuba and wash their hands like Pontius Pilate.
This happened in Case No. 1 of 1989, which ended with the execution of General Arnaldo Ochoa Sánchez, Major Amado Padrón Trujillo, Captain Jorge Martínez Valdés and Colonel Antonio de la Guardia.
Carlos Lehder still remembers the latter when he had to act as an intermediary in a meeting with Castro officials who were under Tony's command.
The twin brother of Brigadier General Patricio de la Guardia (also tried in Case 1 of 1989) was the “head of the mission”.
The twin brothers Antonio and Patricio de la Guardia. The first was the “head of mission” who spoke to Carlos Lehder to coordinate the drug shipments that would arrive in Cuba (Photo: Cubanos por el Mundo archive)
He was head of the Cuban Importers and Exporters Corporation (Cimex), a “special operations” agency of the Castro dictatorship, Lehder recalls.
“The Castro dictatorship, through Cipac, the intelligence and special operations service in Havana, had commissioned a Cuban-American doctor, a relative of a former colleague of mine, to send me a formal, all-expenses-paid invitation to visit the island from the government,” he says in his book.
Raúl Castro met with Carlos Lehder and approved drug trafficking from Cuba. Here he appears with Tony de la Guardia (Photo: Cubans around the World Archive)
Carlos Lehder spoke clearly: they needed the island as a springboard for drug smuggling, a proposal accepted by the emissaries of Raúl and Fidel Castro Ruz.
“For now, all I can confirm is that we need all the dollars we can get,” Tony de la Guardia replied.
This is probably where one of the darkest and most hidden sides of the so-called socialist regime of Havana, which denies any involvement in the drug trade, would have begun.
Carlos Lehder meets with Raúl Castro
The original deal called for the drug traffickers to give Cimex $5 million in cash to cover the government's expenses in Key Largo.
“You will have the rooms you need on the second floor of the hotel to live there with your workers; We will also open the kitchen. We don't know how much cocaine you'll take with you to the island, but the more the better; “We would only have to negotiate the price per kilo landed.”
Carlos Lehder coordinated the shipments that arrived in Cayo Largo, Cuba (Photo: Cubans around the World Archive)
Carlos Lehder requested a meeting with Raúl Castro Ruz and Tony de la Guardia agreed provided he followed certain rules listed in the Semana article.
After they searched him and took away his passport, Carlos Enrique Lehder Rivas – Colombian-German national – met Raúl Modesto, the youngest of the Castro brothers.
#TheSecretsOfLehder | The Castros in Cuba, Noriega in Panama, Ortega in Nicaragua and Pindling in the Bahamas: According to Lehder https://t.co/175hH3g8Xf, these were their entanglements with the Medellín cartel
— Semana Magazine (@RevistaSemana) January 13, 2024
The bloodthirsty army general welcomed him with a “tooth” that had nothing to do with the deal, Lehder says in his book.
“Here in Cuba we have made many advances in education, medicine and agriculture. Our trade grows despite the Yankee blockade; The Cuban revolution is invincible. Enjoy your stay. You can go now.”
Then the reception of the drugs began in Cayo Largo, and both Gustavo Gaviria, El Mexicano and Lehder were responsible for every cocaine delivery ordered by Pablo Escobar.
Antonio la Guardia was responsible for getting the supplies to the Bahamas, and then the drugs were converted into dollars in the United States, “all with the permission of Fidel Castro's regime.”
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2/ As other drug traffickers have explained, the operations were known at the highest levels (in Cuba it is impossible that it could be otherwise) and were not just about Ochoa and the De la Guardia brothers, as Fidel Castro wanted to portray it to believe. public opinion to purify itself. pic.twitter.com/ps17KvCJUi
— José Raúl Gallego (@joseraul86) January 13, 2024
The same people who are compiling a “national terrorist list” today supported and continue to support criminal organizations.
These confessions from former drug trafficker Carlos Lehder, along with those of hundreds of other witnesses, confirm that the so-called “Cuban Revolution” benefited from the funds left behind by drug trafficking and smuggling and is therefore a drug dictatorship that will already have to face history be accountable.
Editorial Cubanos por el Mundo, with information from Semana Magazine