Carlos Muniz Varela

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Muniz and the second or maternal family name is Varela.

Carlos Muniz Varela (August 10, 1953 – April 28, 1979) was a Cuban resident of Puerto Rico who was murdered under suspicious circumstances in 1979.^[1] Varela was an outspoken backer of Puerto Rican Independence movements.

Biography

Muniz Varela was born in Cuba. When he was nine years old, he moved from Cuba together with his mother and sister to live in Puerto Rico.

Muniz Varela received his primary and secondary education in Puerto Rico and in 1973, he formed the Movimiento Socialista Popular, a university students pro-independence group.^[2] In 1974, Muniz Varela joined the staff of Areito Magazine, a pro-Puerto Rican independence publication. In 1977, Muniz Varela returned to Cuba, this time as a reporter for Areito Magazine, and there, he interviewed various political leaders.^[3]

Late in the 1970s, Muniz Varela and a business associate opened a travel agency named "Varadero Travel" in Bayamon, near San Juan. This agency aimed at making traveling between Puerto Rico and Cuba, and back, easier to Cuban exiles in Puerto Rico.^[4] On December 21, 1978, Muniz Varela and 90 other Cubans flew to Cuba in what is believed to be the first time since the Cuban revolution that a group of Cubans visited the island from Puerto Rico.^[5]

Death

Muniz Varela was murdered on April 28, 1979, as he was driving to his mother's house in Guaynabo, a city that borders Bayamon, San Juan and Caguas. He received two shots, one in the chest near his left shoulder and another on the temple, the latter one of which exited his head towards his left ear.^[6]

A group which called itself "Comando Cero" took credit for the assassination^[7] but Muniz Varela's murder was never solved.

Allegations

Muniz Varela's death caused a large amount of allegations, both political and personal. A local Puerto Rican newspaper, the PNP backed "La Cronica", declared Muniz Varela to be a drug-dealing communist in April 1984.^[8]

On the other hand, documents that were declassified by the FBI in 2012 linked Cuban exile Julio Labatud, also known as "Julito Labatud", as being involved in the murder of Muniz Varela. Labatud, who lived in Puerto Rico for 40 years, died in 2007 of Cancer.^[9]

Personal

Muniz Varela was married twice. He had a son, Carlos Muniz Perez, (Carlos Muniz Jr.) and a daughter.

External references

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