The Crime of Tarará: Young Heroes of the People

The memory of the events occurred in Tarará Nautical Base in 1992, reaffirms the repudiation to the Cuban Adjustment Act which caused the criminal attack against young guards of the Homeland

By Ricardo R. Gómez Rodríguez    rrgomez@enet.cu

The years go by. The Cuban Adjustment Act continues to claim victims. That legislation favours the Cubans’ entry into the United States, with the aim of shaking the Revolution.

Some are lured by siren songs and go as far as selling their souls to the devil to achieve their goals.

Memory never fails. Tarará is a peaceful beach, surrounded by big houses with attractive architecture.

Today we recall a crime perpetrated there during the late in the evening of January 8 and the first hours of January 9 in 1992.

The guardian of the Nautical Base, Rafael Guevara Borges, aged 30 and junior sergeant Orosmán Dueñas (20) were doing the night duty, when they saw someone approaching.

Orosmán recognized Luis Miguel Almeida’s voice, who had formerly worked there.

The newcomer started a conversation to give others the chance to get closer and gang up on the watchmen with knives and metal objects.

Wounded and with hands bound, they were abandoned in the sentry box, while the attackers tried to start up a motorboat to emigrate to the United States.

The attackers failed and returned, They gunned down the officials with the weapons taken from them in the surprise attack. At that moment the wounded officials were aided by agents Yuri Gómez Reinoso (19) and  Rolando Pérez Quintosa (23) who were also shot.

One of the victim soldiers was shot nine times with an AKM machine gun. Only Rolando stayed alive, since the attackers gave him up for dead.

Part of the attackers hid away in Mariel. Others went to Granma province, in the eastern part of the Island, in the belief that they couldn’t be identified.

Just 24 hours later they got caught by the people. The search was intense following Pérez Quintosa’s description. He could reproduce the events despite the bleeding wounds from his slim body.

Titanic was the fight of the young man for his life for 37 days. Daily reports were in the press to the people about his condition. Finally death took him away.

Rolando Pérez Quintosa was born in Guanabacoa, he studied at the Camilo Cienfuegos Military School. He was a public order agent of the Ministry of Interior in areas of Tarará and Bacuranao.

In February 1992 Fidel signed the order appointing him as a Hero of the Republic of Cuba.

As years go by, the Cuban Adjustment Act continues to claim victims. But the people remember their young heroes.

Translated by ESTI