CUBA: Minister of Executions

Not to be confused with Francesco de Pinedo, Italian round-the-world flyer, is Francisco de Pineda, strong-armed Cuban convict. A confessed murderer serving a life term, Convict de Pineda is the Republic of Cuba's official death-dealer. He rejoices in the title of "Minister of Executions." Last week he was ordered to execute a former friend for a crime in which the Minister of Executions himself had admittedly been an accomplice.

Today the official engine of execution at Havana is the garrote, a strangling machine. Up to four years ago Cuba's garrote reposed in...

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