Former Cuban diplomat expelled from Colombia dies in car accident

A senior official of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC)who was one of the regime’s repressors, died on Wednesday in a car accident.

Omar Rafael Garcia Lazo44, with a long history in the service of the dictatorship, died “on the return to Havana after completing a working mission,” the PCC announced on its website.

Originally from Sandino, in Pinar del RioGarcía Lazo was admitted to the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba On this list, he was described as violent and accused of making threats, defamation, inciting violence and vandalism.

His name appears in the category of export suppressors: those who Cuba who are sent abroad to organize repression in allied countries or to undermine order in democratic states, or diplomats who distort Cuban reality to the outside world.

García Lazo graduated in Social Communication in 2005 and completed his social service in the Ideological Department of the Central Committee. After two years, he moved to the International Relations Department, where he was promoted to officer.

In 2017 he began his mission as First Secretary of the Cuban Embassy in Colombia until 2021, when the government of Ivan Duque They declared him persona non grata and expelled him after verifying, without further explanation, that he was “engaged in activities incompatible with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations”.

Cuba called the expulsion order an “unfounded decision” and “unfriendly,” claiming it was an attempt by the Colombian government to divert attention from protests taking place in Panama at the time.

After his return to Havana, the ex-diplomat resumed his duties as an official in his previous position at the Central Committee.

During his stay in Colombia, the now deceased officer attacked members of the San Isidro Movement in a Facebook post. “When it comes to Cuba and the counterrevolution, never side with the scammers because you will be mocked. If millions of dollars didn’t overthrow a revolution, don’t try 200. If the street belongs to the people, then the neighborhood also belongs to the people. The networks are not #Cuba, no matter how many likes you have (check where they come from so you don’t get dizzy),” he wrote in November 2020.

“If your interest is in the pandemic and dollarized flu, choose: PCR or PNR,” he added.