Cuba: Driver error to blame for dissident's death

HAVANA – Cuban authorities on Friday blamed driver error for the car crash that killed a prominent island dissident, saying the Spanish man behind the wheel was speeding and braked too quickly upon entering an unpaved construction zone, causing the vehicle to careen out of control.

An Interior Ministry statement aired on the afternoon news also said government opponent Oswaldo Paya and Harold Cepero, another, lesser-known dissident who died in the July 22 crash, were not wearing seatbelts and were in the vehicle's rear, which suffered the brunt of the impact when the car hit a tree at high velocity.

Still photographs broadcast with the report and posted on government-run websites showed a blue subcompact Hyundai Accent with rental car plates, its rear half crumpled. Driver Angel Carromero and Swedish citizen Jens Aron Modig, who were riding up front, suffered only minor injuries.

Authorities are continuing their investigation and evaluating whether a criminal case may be warranted, the statement concluded. Cuban law allows prosecution of people found to have caused a deadly crash.

Island media seldom report on either the dissidents or traffic accidents, and the 1,200-word notice read verbatim on state TV and simultaneously emailed to foreign journalists appeared aimed at countering speculation about possible foul play, such as unconfirmed reports that a second vehicle might have been pursuing the car or even forced it off the road.

Cuba said from the outset that it was a single-car accident, but dissidents and family members nonetheless demanded a transparent investigation.

Oria Acevedo, Paya's sister-in-law, told The Associated Press that she had seen the televised report and the family "reserves the right to doubt."

"She is not accusing anybody," Acevedo said, adding that she could not speak on behalf of her sister and Paya's wife, Ofelia. "But one has a right to certain things like interviewing the witnesses, which has not been granted."

The report said the travelers left Havana at 6:00 a.m. Sunday bound for the eastern city of Santiago, and the accident happened just before 2:00 p.m. in La Gavina, 500 miles (800 kilometers) from the capital.

Based on the accounts of three named witnesses, an analysis of their timetable, which included multiple stops, and forensic evidence from the car and the scene, investigators concluded that Carromero must have been driving at more than 75 mph (120 kph) when he entered the highway section under repair. Cuban traffic laws set a speed limit of 37 mph (60 kph) for unpaved road.

The Interior Ministry statement said visibility was good and there was a sign warning of the upcoming roadwork, though Carromero told police he didn't remember seeing one. It also said he was not keeping an eye on the speedometer and could not say how fast the car was going.

When Carromero realized he was driving over gravel, he slammed on the brakes and the car skidded sideways down the road until it hit a tree, the statement said.

"His lack of attention to control of the vehicle, the excess velocity and the incorrect decision to apply the brakes abruptly on a slippery surface were the causes that determined this tragic accident," the statement said.

Modig said he was sleeping in the passenger's seat and only awakened when the vehicle abruptly braked and fishtailed, and he lost consciousness on impact.

Both Europeans have been given consular access from their respective embassies, but neither has spoken to the news media.

A spokesman for the Spanish Embassy in Havana said Carromero was being held at a police detention center in Bayamo, near La Gavina, and there was nothing in the official report that took consular officials by surprise.

"He is very shaken up by what happened, "Francisco de Borja said. "We are waiting for prosecutors to make a decision."

Swedish Foreign Ministry official Anders Jorle said Modig was doing well and would remain in Cuba as long as necessary while the investigation plays out. Jorle said Modig has not been detained, but it was not clear when he might return to Sweden.

Paya, 60, was a leading government opponent who in the late 1990s and early 2000s headed up the Varela Project, which gathered thousands of signatures calling for political and economic change.

The petition drive was considered the biggest nonviolent challenge to decades of Communist rule under Fidel Castro, and in 2002 the European Union awarded Paya its Sakharov human rights prize.

Cuban media reports about Paya's death have not mentioned that he was a member of the opposition, which officials label foreign-backed "counterrevolutionaries" out to topple the Communist-run government.

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Associated Press writers Andrea Rodriguez in Havana and Louise Nordstrom in Stockholm contributed to this report.

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