There’s Waldo!

Why is it the U.S. expects us to send our delinquents to them, when it takes them so damned long to send our back this way?

The State of Florida has only now gotten around to extraditing Cuban doctor, Waldo Orlando García Ferrera, the presumed murderer of ballerina Margarita Naranjo de Saá in Mazatlán in August 2008.  Naranjo was García’s ex-wife, and the last time she was seen alive was having coffee with García a few blocks from the apartment she had rented for herself and her son.

Naranjo was the daughter of legendary Cuban ballerina Ramona de Saá — who enjoys some quasi-official status as “one of the women closest to Fidel Castro, a symbol of the Cuban Revolution and a mythic figure in the world of ballet,” to quote Noreste from the time of the incident.   García’s claims (which he had photographed) of a kidnapping and beating by Mexican police (supposedly to force a confession) may have been the work of individuals working on behalf of Ramona de Saá, or the Cuban government.  García, remained a “person of interest” in what didn’t seem all that complicated a murder, but certainly had enough international elements to make it a compelling story, even before he disappeared, probably via the anti-Castro underground (which, in Mexico, has ties to the Zetas and other organized crime and terrorist gangs).

This is, as I wrote at the time, all intriguing and the stuff of a good beach read, but more importantly, it is:

… a real life tragedy, not just because of the murder, but because Mazatlan became known for something besides shrimping, smuggling and sandy beaches thanks to Naranjo’s dedication to her art.  This city’s dance companies are known world-wide, and her murder is a serious blow to the community.