Biography
Ramón Labañino Salazar is part of the Cuban Five serving 30 years, reduced from a life sentence plus 18 years.
He was born in Havana on June 9, 1963. Even in primary school he distinguished himself, with responsibility supervising younger students. He graduated from high school in Marianao, Havana, where he earned various distinctions including diplomas as an outstanding and advanced student. In 1986, Labañino graduated as an economist from the University of Havana, graduating with first class honors. At the university, he was very active in all sport activities and participated in the All-Caribbean games. In June 1990 Labañino married Elizabeth Palmeiro Casado, and has two daughters with her, 14-year-old Laura, and 9-year-old Lisbet. He also has another daughter, Ailí, 18, from a previous marriage.
Ramón Labañino Salazar was a senior officer of the Cuban Intelligence Directorate (DI) and a member of the Wasp Network (La Red Avispa) operating in South Florida in the 1990s under the cover identity Luís Medina. The cell gathered intelligence on right-wing Cuban-American exile organizations — Alpha 66, Brothers to the Rescue, Omega 7 — that the Cuban government accused of armed attacks on Cuban tourist infrastructure. Arrested in Miami on September 12, 1998. Tried in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida and convicted in June 2001 of conspiracy to commit espionage and acting as an unregistered foreign agent. Originally sentenced to life plus 18 years; later resentenced on remand to 30 years. Held at USP Beaumont. He was released on December 17, 2014 in the U.S.-Cuba prisoner swap brokered by President Barack Obama and Pope Francis, and returned to Havana as a national hero.
