Martinho Ramos Soto, Martino Soto to the Cubans who knew him on the island, had been moving like a fish in water through Havana since arriving in the Cuban capital last summer, on the run from Spanish justice, while he was sentenced to 13 years and six months in prison for the sexual assault of a 12-year-old student in Galicia. He lived there peacefully until his crimes were revealed and his arrest was announced on Monday by the National Revolutionary Police (PNR).
Those who treated him during the months of “secrecy” he spent in the capital of the Caribbean country knew nothing about his legal status and criminal behavior, until the news was revealed at the end of this week. To everyone, he was just another Spanish citizen wandering around town, his businessman breakAlways carrying his camera, he wanders through the galleries, chatting with young artists and models, between drinks, smiles and music.
The Cuban artistic community exists shock Since the news spread. Pictures of Martinho appear at public events and surprise those who know him on WhatsApp groups. A few weeks after settling in a rented house in Vedado Habanero, near Central 23rd Avenue, the fugitive began to build a network of contacts with the art people of Havana, through his attendance at cultural events, both institutional and independently organized in the city. An Instagram profile opened where it was Martín Soto, his Spanish name, along with his mother’s surname. From there, he contacted young artists and models, followed accounts of cultural projects, and shared with them the photos he took with his camera at the aforementioned events. He tried to make himself indispensable.
Thus, on October 31, he arrived at the Nodo Habana Cultural Center, at the intersection of Malecón and Lealtad streets, to participate in a poetry evening held on the last Friday of every month. It is a space open to the public and Martin was observed with a camera in hand, as he was the only foreigner present that day. They say that he arrived from the institution and offered to take pictures of the poetic meeting, which he would later send Email Therefore, it will remain as a pictorial memory of what happened. Those who were there remember his friendly treatment.
Adolescent behavior
Among those present was Eri Lazara Goytizolo Rodríguez, a young visual artist and poet whom Martinho photographed. She remembers that it seemed strange to see him filming and filming girls for so long. The next day, at another event, they met again. Come closer. He was with young girls who looked like models. “His behavior was adolescent, and I was surprised to see him, so adult, involved with so many young girls. He even asked me if I was going to a hospital.” Listening party In El Vedado, from Rosalía’s new album. “He seemed very concerned about learning about the events that were happening in Havana,” says the young woman, who shares with EL PAÍS screenshots of WhatsApp conversations with Ramos Soto, where they talked about issues related to art. “He made his calls with tremendous preparation,” she says.
No news from Martin Soto since Friday
Martin Soto took photographs and then contacted the subjects, either in person or via Instagram, and sent the images to the young artists. This is what he did during the four months in which he hid, among contemporary Cuban art events, such as this one Next up, November Photography, Exhibition honoring Belkis Ayon, My soul and I love you. The testimonies collected identify Martin Soto as a very sociable person, who provided little information about his life and limited himself to saying that he is a businessman, that he has a consulting company in Spain, and that he spent some time on vacation, but he did not provide further details.
Martin Soto had several plans this week with acquaintances in Havana, but those who dealt with him stopped hearing from him Friday morning; They also went to the house where he lived, but no one opened the door. He also stopped answering the phone. The young model who posed for him discovered his true identity when they started leaving messages on a post they shared on Instagram. She tried to contact him, but received no response on Friday.
Another young Cuban photographer, who did not want to reveal his identity, interacted with Martine Soto on several occasions, after contacting her through that social network. And now you feel terrible. “He was a smart guy, well spoken, and it shocks you when you find out what a monster he is. Why did he want to meet so many people? Why did he take so many pictures and reveal himself here?”
During his stay in Cuba, Martinho Ramos continued to expose himself and act with astonishing impunity. Worker at Fototeca de Cuba, an official cultural institution that organizes the course of activities Photography novemberclaims to have witnessed almost all of the season’s rallies. Thanks to the circulation of photos related to this event, the whereabouts of the fugitive were confirmed. “It must be made clear that this man did not participate in it Photography november Like an artist. He only posed as a photographer and came as another spectator. “It has infiltrated our community,” explains the specialist, who briefly treated Ramos around November 6, during a presentation.
She finds it significant that Martinho disappeared on Friday morning, two days before the media first reported that he was in Havana, leading her to believe he was warned before the news broke. After hours of uncertainty, it was learned Monday afternoon that Cuban authorities had arrested Ramos Soto, though the government had not officially commented on the case until Monday night.
“The stereotype of the older foreigner with the younger Cuban woman.”
Martinho Ramos was walking along the boardwalk in Havana, one day in September 2025, when he met a 23-year-old girl. “He took some pictures of me in that place and we started talking. I liked the pictures, so I gave him my phone number so he could send them to me. He seemed like a good person and I had no reason to feel insecure at that moment,” the young woman, who asked to give anonymous testimony, told El Pais newspaper.
Since that day, they have kept in touch. “He seemed like a fairly poised, thoughtful, sympathetic person, very feminist, with a fairly pleasant voice, and seemed harmless,” she recalls. Days later, they met in Old Havana to take another photo, and they continued to talk, and even went out alone on other occasions, as friends. “I thought he could be a good man, because it’s rare to find a man who masters so many subjects and is sympathetic. Now I realize he only used that speech to flirt.” After that day they talked every day for a few weeks. One day, Martino invited her and a friend to a party at his house, where they met several people. The young woman found it strange that the majority of young women were between the ages of 18 and 29 years. “It seemed very strange to me, so I started distancing myself.”
At another party, after Silvio Rodriguez’s concert on the steps of the University of Havana on September 19, there was a young man who also spoke to EL PAÍS on the condition of anonymity. He says he went to the meeting with his girlfriend, and during the evening, Martin Soto, who arrived with one of his very young friends, approached them to talk. “At first, the couple seemed like the stereotype of the older foreigner with the younger Cuban girl and we didn’t like that.” The next day, dissatisfaction turned to surprise, the young man says, when he realized that Martin had begun following his girlfriend’s Instagram account, something he had not done with the accounts of the other photographers who attended the evening. “Then we met on other occasions, but he was someone I was not interested in getting into,” he concludes and mentions projecting Soto as someone who wanted to present himself as a broken-down man and a supporter of the feminist movement.
This Monday, Andy Martinez was surprised to learn Martinho’s real identity. I barely exchanged words with him, but I saw him on four occasions: the first, at a concert in Cairo Green lampa very crowded joint in El Vedado, and the last one, at an intimate party in a bar called Roof of India. “I always walked with the camera up,” he says. Once Martinho Ramos Soto was arrested, the feeling that he had been subjected to fraud, ridicule and injustice grew stronger among those who knew him in Havana. “It’s a mixture of disgust and fear,” admits one of the young women who interacted with him. “I feel disgusted that I was involved with someone of that nature and that I valued him even a little. And fear, because knowing he cheated on us makes you feel weak. And I’m glad to know he’s been caught.”