To promote a peaceful transition to a Cuba that respects human rights
and political and economic freedomsRemembering: Danish student gunned down in Havana 25 years ago. Carlos Eire sets Pedro Pan record straight. Cuban defector returned to rescue familyThe Czech writer Milan Kundera correctly observed that"the struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting." This CubaBrief aims to highlight three important moments in Cuban history that are too often ignored, or misrepresented. A European student gunned down by a soldier of the Castro regime is forgotten, or written out of history. Operation Pedro Pan, which successfully saved thousands of Cuban children from a life of communist indoctrination, is downplayed and often misrepresented as something else in mainstream media to create fodder for partisan debate. Thankfully Professor Carlos Eire set the record straight below in the National Catholic Register.  Joachim Løvschall was studying Spanish in Havana in the spring of 1997. He was gunned down by a Cuban soldier in Havana 25 years ago today on March 29, 1997. On September 28, 1997 the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published an article by Kim Hundevadt titled "Dangerous Vacation" that outlined what happened to Joachim Løvschall according to the official version giving by Havana on the events leading to this young man's death: Around 23:30, a person matching Joachim Løvschall's description was in a bar named Segundo Dragon d'Oro. The bar lies in the hopeless part of town, around the Revolutionary Plaza which is dominated by ministry and other official buildings of harsh concrete architecture, and lies empty at night.
At 2:45am he left the bar, after becoming intoxicated. Around 20 minutes later, he was walking down the Avenue Territorial, behind the Defense Ministry. Joachim Løvschall walked, according to the Cuban authorities, first on the sidewalk that lies opposite the Ministry. Midway he crossed over to the other sidewalk, considered to be a military area, though it is not blocked off.
The Cubans have explained that Joachim Løvschall was shouted at by two armed guards, who in addition fired warning shots, which he did not react to. Therefore, one guard shot from the hip with an AK-47 rifle. The first shot hit Joachim in the stomach and got him to crumble down. The second shot hit slanting down the left side of the neck.
Cuba is a dictatorship, and the failure to recognize that fact has cost lives, and will continue to do so. That foreign government officials would downplay this brutal crime, when violence is visited on their nationals, endangers more lives. Below is a report by Notes from the Cuban Exile Quarter published today. Finally, a Cuban defector flees Cuba in a MIG-23 and returns in a civilian plane to rescue his family when official channels in Havana refused to allow the family to be reunited through more conventional means. Orestes Lorenzo Perez, a courageous defector who fled Cuba in a MiG-23 on March 20, 1991, but was rebuffed afterwards by the Castro regime when he tried to get his family out, took matters into his own hands. On December 19, 1992, Perez left from the Florida Keys in a small civilian plane, flying low across the ocean. His wife was given a note to meet him at a location about 165 miles from her home in Havana with their two sons. He successfully rescued his wife and children returning to the United States. The Aviation Geek Club reported on this event on their website that should be remembered in aviation history. These three moments provide insights both into the nature of the Cuban dictatorship, and the courage of those who challenge it. Notes from the Cuban Exile Quarter, March 29, 2022 25 years without justice for Danish student gunned down in Havana by a soldier "There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest." - Elie Wiesel, Nobel Lecture 1986  Joachim Løvschall: December 7, 1970 - March 29, 1997 Joachim Løvschall was studying Spanish in Havana in the spring of 1997. He was gunned down by a soldier of the Castro regime in Havana, Cuba twenty five years ago today on March 29, 1997. The identity of the soldier was never revealed to Joachim''s family. No one was brought to justice. Joachim's family is not satisfied with the official explanation. The last time they saw Joachim On March 28, 1997 Joachim Løvschall ate his last dinner with white wine in a little restaurant called Aladin, located on 21st street in Havana. He went to the Revolutionary Plaza and bought a ticket to the Cuban National Theater. Following the performance he went to the theater's bar, Cafe Cantante, and met up with two Swedish friends. They each drank a couple of beers, but soon left because Joachim did not like the music. At 23:30, they said good bye to each other on the sidewalk in front of Cafe Cantante.
Joachim was never seen alive again. Last seen in the front of Cafe Cantante The Castro regime's version of what happened On September 28, 1997 the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published an article by Kim Hundevadt titled "Dangerous Vacation" that outlined what happened to Joachim Løvschall and presented the Castro dictatorship's version of the events leading to this young man's death: Around 23:30, a person matching Joachim Løvschall's description was in a bar named Segundo Dragon d'Oro. The bar lies in the hopeless part of town, around the Revolutionary Plaza which is dominated by ministry and other official buildings of harsh concrete architecture, and lies empty in at night. At 2:45am he left the bar, after becoming intoxicated. Around 20 minutes later, he was walking down the Avenue Territorial, behind the Defense Ministry. Joachim Løvschall walked, according to the Cuban authorities, first on the sidewalk that lies opposite the Ministry. Midway he crossed over to the other sidewalk, considered to be a military area, though it is not blocked off. The Cubans have explained that Joachim Løvschall was shouted at by two armed guards, who in addition fired warning shots, which he did not react to. Therefore, one guard shot from the hip with an AK-47 rifle. The first shot hit Joachim in the stomach and got him to crumble down. The second shot hit slanting down the left side of the neck. Joachim Løvschall gunned down in Cuba in 1997 Fifteen years ago On June 12, 2007 Christian Løvschall, Joachim's father, at a parallel forum at the United Nations Human Rights Council spoke about his son's disappearance and the struggle to find out if Joachim was dead or alive: "Although the killing took place on the 29th of March, we only came to know about it on the 6th of April - i.e. after 8 days were we had the feeling that the Cuban authorities were unwilling to inform anything about the incident. Only because of good relations with Spanish speaking friends in other Latin American countries did we succeed in getting into contact with the family with whom Joachim stayed and the repeated message from their side was that they could reveal nothing, but that the situation had turned out very bad and that we had to come to Cuba as soon as possible. At the same time all contacts to the responsible authorities turned out negatively... Only after continued pressure from our side on the Cuban embassy in Copenhagen, things suddenly changed and the sad information was given to us by our local police on the evening of the 6th of April. We are, however, 100% convinced that had we not made use of our own contact and had we not continued our pressure on the embassy in Copenhagen, we might have faced a situation where Joachim would have been declared a missing person, a way out the Cuban authorities have been accused of applying in similar cases." Ten years later Christian Løvschall outlined what he knew concerning his son's untimely death: We do feel we were (and still are) left with no answers except to maybe one of the following questions: Where, When, Who, Why Starting out with the where we were told that Joachim was killed by the soldiers outside the Ministry of Interior. Where What we do not understand is why no fence or signs did inform that this is a restricted area? I have been on the spot myself, and the place appears exactly like a normal residential area. So you may question whether this in fact was the place of the killing? Contrary to this the authorities keep maintaining that the area was properly sealed off, and the relevant sign posts were in place. When As to when Joachim was killed we only have the information received from the police because of the delay informing one might believe that this is another forgery made up to cover the truth. Who The who was in our opinion has never been answered by the Cuban authorities. We understand that a private soldier on duty was made responsible for the killing, and also it has been rumored that his officer in charge has been kept responsible. This is of course the easy way out, but why can't we get to know the whole and true story? Why Why did the soldiers have to fire two shots, one to his body and one to his head, to murder him? Was Joachim violent and did he, an unarmed individual, attack the armed soldiers? Or is it simply that the instruction to Cuban soldiers are: first you shoot and then you ask? But again: Who can explain why two shots were needed? Despite the claims made by the travel industry there have been other travelers to Cuba who have been killed or gone missing under suspicious circumstances. Others have been falsely imprisoned in legal proceedings that fall far short of international standards. Like North Korea, but with a tropical twist, Cuba suffers a dictatorship where both nationals and foreigners have no legal protections locally if they run into trouble with the regime. The ongoing plight of Benjamin Tomlin, who has spent three years in a Cuban prison, should lead others considering a holiday in Cuba to think twice. So should what happened to Joachim Løvschall on March 29, 1997 when he was gunned down by an AK-47 wielding Cuban soldier for allegedly walking on the wrong sidewalk. |
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