Cuban revolutionary commander Ramiro Valdes dies at 94
President Miguel Diaz-Canel announced the death of Ramiro Valdes, a veteran of the Cuban revolution and former senior official.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
3 min read
Ramiro Valdes, a veteran commander of Cuba’s revolution who later helped build the country’s state security apparatus, has died at 94, President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Sunday. His death leaves Raul Castro, 95, as one of the few remaining senior figures from the generation that brought Fidel Castro to power.
Diaz-Canel announced the death in a post on X, according to Al Jazeera and AFP. The Cuban president described Valdes as a father figure and praised what he called his “exemplary dedication to the service of the homeland.”
Valdes was closely tied to Fidel Castro, who died in 2016 at age 90, and to Raul Castro, Al Jazeera and AFP reported. Diaz-Canel wrote that Valdes’s public life was defined by loyalty to Fidel Castro, Raul Castro, his comrades and the political program associated with the Moncada movement.
From Moncada to senior office
Valdes took part in the 1953 attack on the Moncada Barracks, the failed assault led by Fidel Castro against the government of Fulgencio Batista, according to Al Jazeera and AFP. The episode became a founding reference point for the Cuban revolutionary movement.
After the Moncada attack, Valdes became a military leader in the campaign against Batista, Al Jazeera and AFP reported. He fought alongside Ernesto “Che” Guevara before Batista was overthrown in 1958.
Valdes later rose through the Cuban state and the Communist Party, the only legal political party in the country, according to Al Jazeera and AFP. He served twice as interior minister and also held the post of vice president.
In government, Valdes helped create the G2 intelligence service, Al Jazeera and AFP reported. The service was modeled closely on Russia’s KGB and was used to track dissidents at home while watching perceived enemies abroad, according to the news organizations.
Death comes during economic shift
The announcement came days after Cuba’s Communist Party approved a set of market-oriented economic measures, according to Al Jazeera and AFP. The package was described by the news organizations as the broadest change to the country’s economic strategy since the revolution.
The measures are intended to loosen parts of Cuba’s state-run economy, Al Jazeera and AFP reported. They include more room for private businesses, imports and exports without state intermediaries, and private hiring.
The package also permits authorization of private banks and investment by Cubans living abroad, according to Al Jazeera and AFP. Diaz-Canel defended the plan, which has Raul Castro’s backing, and blamed Cuba’s economic difficulties on internal barriers and outside pressure.
Al Jazeera and AFP reported that Cuba’s economic problems have worsened during a fuel blockade imposed by the administration of US President Donald Trump. The same administration has repeatedly threatened military action to remove Cuba’s Communist government, according to the report.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.