Spaniard held over Cuban dissidents’ deaths was to lose his drivers license

Ángel Carromero Barrios, the Spaniard who is facing possible homicide charges in Cuba stemming from the July 22 car accident that claimed the lives of a prominent dissident and another anti-Castro opponent, has a long list of traffic violations filed against him in Spain. In fact, the General Traffic Division (DGT) informed Carromero on May 18 that it was in the process of taking away his driver’s license.

The deputy secretary general for the Madrid chapter of the Popular Party’s youth wing, Nuevas Generaciónes, is being held at a Havana prison facing homicide charges for reckless driving after his rented vehicle crashed into a tree and killed dissidents Oswaldo Payá and Harold Cepero.

Carromero, who could face between one and 10 years in prison if convicted in Cuba, has had 45 fines handed down against him in Spain since March 2011: most of them are for illegal parking, but two are for speeding within that period.

In the May 18 edition of the Madrid region’s official BOCM gazette, the DGT published a list of names of people who stood to lose their license if they didn’t present an appeal within 10 days. Among them was Carromero.

On January 4, 2010 Carromero had to pay a 520-euro fine for exceeding the speed limit by more than 50 percent in Cuenca. He also lost six points from his license.

Carromero was fined 100 euros in another speeding incident in Madrid. But because he did not exceed more than 25 percent of the speed limit, he didn’t lose any points.

But on January 3, 2012 Burgos traffic police fined Carromero 100 euros for speeding, which cost him two additional points from his license.

The other 42 infractions filed against him are for illegal parking in Madrid. Most of the fines are for 30 euros each, but there are also some listed at 60 and 90 euros. Two 200 euro fines were also imposed on him were for blocking a pedestrian crossing, according to City Hall website.