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4w ago

Cuba Confirms Death of Assata Shakur at 78 in Havana

The announcement ends a decades-long fugitive hunt by U.S. authorities.

Muere Assata Shakur, la activista estadounidense buscada por el FBI y protegida en Cuba, a los 78 años
Tras vivir en la clandestinidad, Shakur reapareció públicamente en Cuba en 1984, donde el gobierno de Fidel Castro le concedió asilo político. | Crédito: FBI y captura en X
Joanne Chesimard, also known as Assata Shakur, was convicted in 1977 of the 1973 murder of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster. She escaped from a New Jersey prison in 1979 and has been residing in Cuba.
Reportan la muerte de Assata Shakur, mujer estadounidense buscada por el FBI y que tenía asilo en Cuba, a los 78 años

Overview

  • Cuba’s foreign ministry said Shakur died on September 25 from health ailments related to advanced age, and her daughter later confirmed the death.
  • Shakur was convicted in 1977 for the 1973 New Jersey Turnpike shootout that killed state trooper Werner Foerster, a case she long said was politically driven.
  • She escaped from a New Jersey prison in 1979 and resurfaced in Cuba in 1984, where Fidel Castro granted her political asylum.
  • In 2013, the FBI named her the first woman on its Most Wanted Terrorists list and posted a reward of up to $2 million for information leading to her capture.
  • Her decades in Cuba were a persistent source of friction in U.S.–Cuba relations, and her cultural footprint included ties to the late rapper Tupac Shakur.