politics
Ramiro Valdes, Cuban Revolutionary Commander, Dies at 94
Cuba's president announced the death of Ramiro Valdes, a founder of the country's intelligence services and one of the last surviving leaders of the 1959 revolution.
Jun 21, 4:30 PM·1m read3 sources
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Ramiro Valdes, a commander in Cuba's Communist revolution who helped establish the country's state security intelligence service, died at the age of 94. President Miguel Diaz-Canel announced the death in a post on X on Sunday. " Valdes took part in the 1953 Moncada Barracks attack alongside Fidel Castro.
He later fought with Ernesto "Che" Guevara before the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista in 1958. Fidel Castro died in 2016 at the age of 90. Valdes served twice as minister of the interior and once as vice president.
He was a top member of the Cuban Communist Party and helped create the G2 state security intelligence service, which monitored domestic dissent and external threats. Valdes was among the last surviving leaders of the revolution, alongside 95-year-old Raul Castro.
The announcement came days after the Communist Party approved a series of free-market economic measures that decentralize the state-run economy and allow private banks and foreign investment by Cubans abroad.
Diaz-Canel said internal obstacles and external pressures caused Cuba's economic difficulties. Those difficulties have worsened under an ongoing fuel blockade imposed by the Trump administration.
