Madrid/A Florida judge is currently deciding whether to confirm or halt the execution of the murderer of Cuban Yvette Fariñas at the hands of her compatriot Rafael Andrés, scheduled for the end of the month.
In a last attempt to have the sentence suspended, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Zachary James heard this Monday from several fellow prisoners who spoke in favor of the virtues of this 61-year-old Cuban-American, convicted of two murders. Andrés arrived from the Island in 1980, during the Mariel exodus, with his wife, and in 1987 he also killed Cuban Linda Azcarreta, a family friend, to steal just 100 dollars from her. For this fact he was sentenced to nine years in prison, but his good behavior earned him early release and he served only 18 months in prison.
The local press has reported that Andrés benefited from an unusual series of events. In the late 1980s, overcrowding in Florida prisons meant that benefits were granted more lightly, leading to the creation of administrative release programs in which days of “credit” were given for good behavior or performing work that drastically reduced sentences. The Cuban was also considered a marielito who would not cause as many problems as other criminals linked to drug trafficking, who were alarming at the time.
The Cuban was also considered a ‘marielito’ who would not cause as many problems as other criminals linked to drug trafficking, who were alarming at the time.
All of this led the prisoner to the streets at a time that would be impossible today – since the mid-90s, at least 85% of the sentence has been required for violent crimes – and there he found work as a repairman, which made it easier for him to enter Fariñas’ home in 2005.
The Cuban had just arrived in Florida from the Island and worked at the well-known La Carreta restaurant, inside the Miami International Airport. Andrés, who had to carry out renovation work in the studio that the 31-year-old girl shared with her partner, took advantage of the opportunity to try to rob her and then stabbed her and strangled her with a cord before setting the house on fire.
The cruelty, aggravated by a criminal record, returned Andrés to prison and in 2015 he was sentenced to capital punishment. His case, like so many with the highest sentence, has had multiple ups and downs – among others, due to the requirement of unanimity for some time to apply it, which is no longer in force – and on more than one occasion he has been granted the right to another trial to determine whether the sentence should be commuted to life imprisonment. But this seems to be his last chance.
During the appeal, in which was the New Heraldthree fellow prisoners defended him as a great mediator in fights and a person who has embraced spirituality in his sentence, while the defense asked that the brain damage caused by cocaine in his youth be taken into account.
Although his case is one of the most emblematic among the Cuban community in Florida, Rafael Andrés does not appear in the organization’s foreign records. Death Penalty Information Centerso it is believed that at some point he obtained nationality through naturalization. According to this organization, based in Washington and specialized in preparing reports and studies on capital punishment – although it has no position on the matter, it is critical of how it is applied – there are five Cubans currently on death row, being the third nationality with the most cases – tied with El Salvador and Honduras –, behind Mexico (44) and Vietnam (6).
Of the 12 foreign prisoners sentenced to death in Florida, five are Cuban. One of them is Omar Blanco, one of the oldest, since his crime occurred in the year 82. The Cuban broke into John Ryan’s house in Broward County and shot him in front of his wife. Poor defense and his mental capacity have focused attention during the decades of litigation his case has endured.
Leonardo Franqui participated in the 1992 Hialeah bank robbery during which a shootout occurred in which a police officer, Steven Bauer, was killed. His sentence has also been very controversial, since he has an intellectual disability and, in addition, the confessions of his accomplices have been called into question. One of them is the other Cuban sentenced to death, Pablo San Martin, who was also accused of robbery with violence. The defense has also appealed for, among other things, his poor mental health.
Marbel Mendoza was also convicted in 1992, although for another crime: the murder of Conrado Sotto during a robbery.
Marbel Mendoza was also convicted in 1992, although for another crime: the murder of Conrado Sotto during a robbery. The deceased, who had a currency exchange business, was returning home with the day’s proceeds when he was surprised by the Cuban and his accomplices. Mendoza shot him to take his briefcase and the Prosecutor’s Office specifically attributed meticulous premeditation in the crime. Although he has appealed several times due to the jury’s lack of unanimity, his sentence has been confirmed in all cases.
The last one – with data from September 2025 – is Manolo Rodríguez, convicted of a violent crime that also occurred in 1992 in Miami-Dade County. In his case, the murder was more linked to a typical settling of scores, since he shot and tried to hide Bárbaro’s body Bobby Simón, an acquaintance, after a dispute related to debts or personal business. After between 44 and 34 years in prison, none of the five even have an execution date.
In December 2024, about to leave the White House, Biden commuted the sentences of 37 death row inmatesone of them, Daniel Troya, of Cuban origin. Furthermore, a decision is expected this month on the possible retrial in the case of Pablo Ibar, the Spaniard with a Cuban mother who has been in prison since 1994 – 16 years on death row and currently sentenced to life imprisonment – and whose Odyssey judicial could end if he manages – like the other accused – to prove his innocence in the triple murder of Miramar, in Florida.
This state broke a record for executions in 2025, with a total of 19, of the 47 in the country. Before that, the year in which the capital punishment was applied to the most prisoners was 2014, with 8. So far this year, there are already three more cases.
