Chilean Faces Stiff Cuba Court Sentence

HAVANA TIMES, March 25 — The prosecutor’s office requested a 20-year prison sentence for Chilean businessman Max Marambio for the crimes of bribery, falsification of banking and commercial documents in the trial against him opened at the Havana Provincial Court, reported IPS. Marambio was tried in absence, since he has refused to appear before the Cuban authorities.

Marambio, with long-time connections with Cuba’s top leadership, reportedly has numerous holdings in Cuba that could be in jeopardy since he refuses to appear in court.

Marambio had been a guerrilla in the 1960s and a bodyguard for Chilean President Salvador Allende. His now defunct company, Rio Zaza, had a virtual monopoly during the last couple decades on packaged fruit juices and milk in Cuba, which reportedly made him a fortune.