Pelayo Cuervo Navarro

Cuban politician, brilliant lawyer and distinguished parliamentarian. He was a member of the Cuban Revolutionary Party (Auténtico), but left it to serve alongside Eduardo Chibás in the Cuban People's Party (Ortodoxo). From within it he opposed the corruption of the Auténtico governments and, after the coup d'état of March 10, 1952, opposed the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista.

He was brutally murdered by the repressive forces of the Batistian regime following the assault on the Presidential Palace on March 13, 1957, despite having had no connection whatsoever to this event.

He was born in 1901. He distinguished himself as a politician. Although he had served in various political organizations for which he was a representative to the Chamber and senator in different legislatures, his public performance was most relevant in the ranks of the Cuban Revolutionary Party (Auténtico) and especially when he joined Eduardo Chibás in the Cuban People's Party (Ortodoxo), serving as senator and leader of the party.

Pelayo Cuervo was the author of the accusation before the courts of justice against former president Ramón Grau San Martín for the theft and embezzlement of 174 million pesos from the public treasury (Case 82/49).

Following the coup d'état of March 10, 1952, he was an active opponent of the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista.

In 1954 he publicly opposed the Via Cuba Canal project promoted by the government of Fulgencio Batista. Against this project he filed a motion for unconstitutionality on January 23, 1955 before the Constitutional and Social Guarantees Court. He signed it alongside renowned jurists, among whom were Cosme de la Torriente, Jorge Mañach, Carlos Márquez Sterling and José Manuel Gutiérrez.

He was murdered in 1957, following a brutal beating received at the hands of the armed forces of the tyranny of Fulgencio Batista (1952-1958). the American Cuban Telephone Company. His body was found dumped in Laguito in Havana City.