Biography
Lorenzo Puentes was a Tampa cigar worker, former president of Cigar Makers’ Local 500 and member of the Communist Party. He entered the United States legally with his son Wilfredo in 1926. Immigration authorities sought to deport Lorenzo to Cuba because of his Communist affiliation, and the International Union of Cigar Workers supported his defense. His seventeen-year-old son was also arrested in December 1936 and faced deportation on the same political ground. Wilfredo was released into the custody of attorney Edwin L. Bryan after protests against the proposed $1,000 bail requirement.
