Miami judge awards Cuban exile $2.8bn for father's forced suicide after Castro revolution...
((There are some interesting photos at the source that I was unable to post at this time due to my internet connection.))
Miami judge awards Cuban exile $2.8bn for father's forced suicide after Castro revolution... but he'll never see a cent of it
*Gustavo Villoldo's wealthy father forced to kill himself to save his sons by anti-capitalist Cuban regime in 1959
*He avenged father's death by helping to capture Che Guevara - and was tasked with secretly burying him
By Chris Parsons
Last updated at 7:25 PM on 25th August 2011
A Cuban exile whose family were persecuted by Fidel Castro's regime has been awarded $2.8billion damages after his father was forced to commit suicide at the height of the 1959 Communist revolution.
Gustavo Villoldo's father was told by Castro's key lieutenant Che Guevara to take his own life and return his wealthy family's fortune to the state or his two young sons would be executed.
Now over 50 years since Mr Villoldo's tormented father killed himself at Castro's request, his son - who later avenged his father by helping to capture Guevara - has been given the payout after a landmark court ruling.
A judge in Florida ordered the Cuban government to pay damages to Mr Villoldo, 72, after his father - who had the same name - was given the ultimatum to take his own life in order to save his sons.
Despite being the biggest ruling of its kind, however, Mr Villoldo will have huge difficulty obtaining any of the payout money, as Cuba does not recognise U.S. court rulings and has only $200million of seized assets in America, which are being claimed by other exiles.
Gustavo Villoldo Sr, the wealthy owner of a law firm and General Motors plant worth $15million a year, was targeted by Fidel Castro's anti-capitalist agenda as soon as the Cuban revolutionary toppled President Fulgencio Batista in 1959.
The family's home was stormed, Mr Villoldo Sr was imprisoned and interrogated and his family captured before he was given the suicide ultimatum in February the same year.
Regime: Mr Villoldo's family were targeted during the Cuban revolution by Prime Minister Fidel Castro, right, and his key lieutenant Che Guevara, left
Regime: Mr Villoldo's family were targeted during the Cuban revolution by Prime Minister Fidel Castro, right, and his key lieutenant Che Guevara, left
After his father's death, Gustavo Villoldo Jr fled Cuba and moved to the U.S. after continued persecution of his family and his late father's car business by Castro's regime.
Mr Villoldo joined an anti-communist Cuban exile group and after joining the army took part in the failed 1961 CIA-led Bay of Pigs invasion to topple Castro.
He later worked with the CIA, and was part of the team that tracked down Guevara in the Bolivian jungle eight years after his father's death in October 1967.
Two years ago a different judge awarded Gustavo Villoldo more than $1billion in damages for the death of his father.
Cuba’s government has flatly refused to pay similar damage awards in the past, leaving lawyers scrambling to find assets linked to Havana around the world they can attempt to seize.
THE LIFE OF CHE GUEVARA
Che Guevara's iconic image which has become widespread
Ernersto 'Che' Guevara was born in Argentina in 1928. He studied medicine but during a trip through Latin America when he was 23 he became politicised by the poverty he witnessed.
Guevara became involved in Guatemalan social reforms until the American CIA overthrew the President Jacobo Arbenz.
The rebel later met Fidel Castro and brother Raul in Mexico City and sailed to Cuba in 1956 to fight successfully against Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista.
Guevara worked within Cuba following the revolution and oversaw a national literacy campaign and redistribution of wealth.
He was captured by U.S.-backed forces and executed on Oct 9 1967
In her ruling this week, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Beatrice Butchko found that Cuba's actions 'rose to such a level of depravity' that they amounted to torture and that Cuba must pay billions of dollars in damages.
Judge Butchko wrote that Mr Villoldo Sr was 'told repeatedly that he, his sons, and his wife would be killed, unless he acquiesced to the turnover of his property and took his own life'.
Mr Villoldo Jr's attorney, Andrew Hall, said he will attempt to collect by tapping frozen Cuban assets in the U.S. and Cuban-linked businesses around the world.
Mr Hall told The Times: 'He's ecstatic at the court ruling, but he's been through an awful lot... one of his primary motives in bringing this case was to avenge his father's death.
'His life has been the biggest rollercoaster in the world.
'Imagine a leader of a nation that knows you personally, curses your name and wishes you ill, wishes you an unpleasant death, and has attempted to assassinate you periodically over a period of decades, then you will understand what Mr Villoldo has endured.'
U.S. courts have issued a number of similar judgments against Cuba over killings, imprisonment and confiscation of property.
Some people have collected sizeable amounts by going after bank accounts and similar assets, but others have managed to find very little.
Fidel Castro, 85, handed the Cuban presidency to his brother Raul in 2006 after 49 years in power.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2030130/Miami-judge-awards-Cuban-exile-2-8bn-fathers-forced-suicide-Castro-revolution.html#ixzz1W4NYeZzg
Miami judge awards Cuban exile $2.8bn for father's forced suicide after Castro revolution... but he'll never see a cent of it
*Gustavo Villoldo's wealthy father forced to kill himself to save his sons by anti-capitalist Cuban regime in 1959
*He avenged father's death by helping to capture Che Guevara - and was tasked with secretly burying him
By Chris Parsons
Last updated at 7:25 PM on 25th August 2011
A Cuban exile whose family were persecuted by Fidel Castro's regime has been awarded $2.8billion damages after his father was forced to commit suicide at the height of the 1959 Communist revolution.
Gustavo Villoldo's father was told by Castro's key lieutenant Che Guevara to take his own life and return his wealthy family's fortune to the state or his two young sons would be executed.
Now over 50 years since Mr Villoldo's tormented father killed himself at Castro's request, his son - who later avenged his father by helping to capture Guevara - has been given the payout after a landmark court ruling.
A judge in Florida ordered the Cuban government to pay damages to Mr Villoldo, 72, after his father - who had the same name - was given the ultimatum to take his own life in order to save his sons.
Despite being the biggest ruling of its kind, however, Mr Villoldo will have huge difficulty obtaining any of the payout money, as Cuba does not recognise U.S. court rulings and has only $200million of seized assets in America, which are being claimed by other exiles.
Gustavo Villoldo Sr, the wealthy owner of a law firm and General Motors plant worth $15million a year, was targeted by Fidel Castro's anti-capitalist agenda as soon as the Cuban revolutionary toppled President Fulgencio Batista in 1959.
The family's home was stormed, Mr Villoldo Sr was imprisoned and interrogated and his family captured before he was given the suicide ultimatum in February the same year.
Regime: Mr Villoldo's family were targeted during the Cuban revolution by Prime Minister Fidel Castro, right, and his key lieutenant Che Guevara, left
Regime: Mr Villoldo's family were targeted during the Cuban revolution by Prime Minister Fidel Castro, right, and his key lieutenant Che Guevara, left
After his father's death, Gustavo Villoldo Jr fled Cuba and moved to the U.S. after continued persecution of his family and his late father's car business by Castro's regime.
Mr Villoldo joined an anti-communist Cuban exile group and after joining the army took part in the failed 1961 CIA-led Bay of Pigs invasion to topple Castro.
He later worked with the CIA, and was part of the team that tracked down Guevara in the Bolivian jungle eight years after his father's death in October 1967.
Two years ago a different judge awarded Gustavo Villoldo more than $1billion in damages for the death of his father.
Cuba’s government has flatly refused to pay similar damage awards in the past, leaving lawyers scrambling to find assets linked to Havana around the world they can attempt to seize.
THE LIFE OF CHE GUEVARA
Che Guevara's iconic image which has become widespread
Ernersto 'Che' Guevara was born in Argentina in 1928. He studied medicine but during a trip through Latin America when he was 23 he became politicised by the poverty he witnessed.
Guevara became involved in Guatemalan social reforms until the American CIA overthrew the President Jacobo Arbenz.
The rebel later met Fidel Castro and brother Raul in Mexico City and sailed to Cuba in 1956 to fight successfully against Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista.
Guevara worked within Cuba following the revolution and oversaw a national literacy campaign and redistribution of wealth.
He was captured by U.S.-backed forces and executed on Oct 9 1967
In her ruling this week, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Beatrice Butchko found that Cuba's actions 'rose to such a level of depravity' that they amounted to torture and that Cuba must pay billions of dollars in damages.
Judge Butchko wrote that Mr Villoldo Sr was 'told repeatedly that he, his sons, and his wife would be killed, unless he acquiesced to the turnover of his property and took his own life'.
Mr Villoldo Jr's attorney, Andrew Hall, said he will attempt to collect by tapping frozen Cuban assets in the U.S. and Cuban-linked businesses around the world.
Mr Hall told The Times: 'He's ecstatic at the court ruling, but he's been through an awful lot... one of his primary motives in bringing this case was to avenge his father's death.
'His life has been the biggest rollercoaster in the world.
'Imagine a leader of a nation that knows you personally, curses your name and wishes you ill, wishes you an unpleasant death, and has attempted to assassinate you periodically over a period of decades, then you will understand what Mr Villoldo has endured.'
U.S. courts have issued a number of similar judgments against Cuba over killings, imprisonment and confiscation of property.
Some people have collected sizeable amounts by going after bank accounts and similar assets, but others have managed to find very little.
Fidel Castro, 85, handed the Cuban presidency to his brother Raul in 2006 after 49 years in power.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2030130/Miami-judge-awards-Cuban-exile-2-8bn-fathers-forced-suicide-Castro-revolution.html#ixzz1W4NYeZzg