The former consul of the Cuban Government in Galicia, Spain, Yahíma Martínez Millán, did not participate in the trial and resisted being held in that country for the attack on the Cuban activist Avana de la Torre in July 2022. The latter reported this through a direct message on Facebook.
An oral hearing was held because of the complaint against this officer, accused of also attacking a Spanish citizen of Angolan origin, Vania Coelho Da Cunha Guimaraes. In February 2023, the trial was postponed due to a strike by Galician justice employees.
De la Torre explained that the trial can now take place due to the fact that the Spanish justice system was able to inform Martínez of the hearing date, something important even if the accused did not appear in court. Martínez would have been removed from his position as consul in November 2022. “As he can be informed even on WhatsApp, this test is now done by default. The sentence will be released on October 20, so we will know. I have many beliefs. Even if things are wrong, we must remember that these people must be reported where they are,” the activist explained in his broadcast.
On July 26, 2022, Martínez attacked Coelho and took his cell phone while he was recording with De la Torre. The Cuban activist shouted “Patria y Vida” and placed flowers in front of the bust of José Martí when the regime official beat him to stop the action.
“This complaint against the consul is because of the injuries; he broke the phone … but I want to go one step further. You remember when another Cuban consul attacked my friend Lucio (in May 2023 during a concert in Madrid by the pro-Castro group Buena Fe)? That’s why I’m preparing something big against Cuban diplomatic personnel because these people are exporting repression.”added the Cuban activist living in Spain.
De la Torre described other attacks suffered at the hands of another Cuban consul and a man who accompanied him to Madrid’s Adolfo Suárez Airport: “That man grabbed me and took my phone, telling me: ‘You are, you are paid, a mercenary…’ All the while, he was trying to divert my attention so I wouldn’t record the consul.”
The activist identified the aggressor, consul Ulises Enrique Oliva Suárez, and his partner Alejandro Núñez Padrón. The latter worked as a counselor to the minister of the Embassy of the Government of Cuba in Spain. “I will show the world all these characters, where they are, and how they are trying in every way to silence us,” said De la Torre.
“The trial was very calm. I sincerely believe that the verdict is in my favor,” concluded the Cuban, who promised to start other cases against the diplomats of the Havana regime.
