Ramiro Valdés Menéndez (1932 – 2026)

Their Story

Ramiro Valdés Menéndez was a veteran of the Cuban Revolution who fought alongside Fidel Castro from the earliest days of the uprising. At just 21, he participated in the 1953 assault on the Moncada Barracks, the opening act that would eventually lead to the revolution. He was among the elite group of only 12 survivors of the historic 1956 Granma expedition and served as deputy commander under Ernesto "Che" Guevara during the guerrilla campaign in the Sierra Maestra mountains, fighting in the decisive Battle of Santa Clara before Batista's fall in 1959. Over more than six decades, Valdés held numerous high-ranking government positions, including two terms as Minister of the Interior (1961–1968 and 1979–1985), where he founded and directed Cuba's interior ministry and security apparatus. He became Vice President of the Council of State in 2009 following a reorganization by Raúl Castro, and served as Minister of Informatics and Communications. A member of the Communist Party's Politburo since 1965, he held the honorary titles of "Hero of the Republic" and "Commander of the Revolution" until his retirement from the Political Bureau in 2019. Even in his final years, he remained active in government affairs, serving as Deputy Prime Minister with responsibility for Cuba's energy crisis. His death marked the end of an era, leaving only a handful of the original revolutionary generation still living.

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramiro_Vald%C3%A9s_Men%C3%A9ndez