How a Spanish teacher convicted of abusing a 12-year-old student reinvented himself in Havana

"Martino Ramos Soto known as Martin Soto to the Cubans who met him on the island had been moving through Havana like a fish in water since he arrived in the Cuban capital last summer, on the run from Spanish justice while serving a 13-year-and-six-month prison sentence for sexually abusing a 12-year-old student in the Spanish region of Galicia. He lived in Havana quietly until his crimes became public, and it was announced on Monday that he had been arrested by the Revolutionary National Police (PNR)."

"The Cuban art community has been in shock since the news broke. WhatsApp groups have been flooded with photos of Soto at public events, with the people who met him expressing their surprise at the revelation. Just a few weeks after settling into a rented house in Havana's Vedado neighborhood, very close to the central 23rd Avenue, the fugitive began to build a network of contacts within the Havana art scene through his presence at cultural events, both institutional and independently organized."

Martino Ramos Soto entered Havana last summer while on the run from Spanish justice and serving a 13-year-and-six-month sentence for sexually abusing a 12-year-old in Galicia. He moved through Havana's cultural circles presenting himself as a Spanish tourist and businessman, photographing exhibitions and socializing with artists and models. He created an Instagram account under his mother's maiden name to contact young creatives and followed cultural projects. He rented a house in Vedado near 23rd Avenue and built local contacts through public and independent cultural events. Cuban authorities later arrested him, shocking the local art community.

Read at english.elpais.com