Juan Almeida Bosque
Encyclopedia
Juan Almeida Bosque was a Cuba
n politician and one of the original commanders of the Cuban Revolution
. After the 1959 revolution, he was a prominent figure in the Communist Party of Cuba
; at the time of his death in 2009, he was a Vice-President of the Cuban Council of State and was its third ranking member. He received several decorations, and both national and international awards, including the title of "Hero of the Republic of Cuba
" and the Order of Máximo Gómez
.
. He left school at the age of eleven and became a bricklayer
. Whilst studying law at the University of Havana
in 1952, he became close friends with the revolutionary Fidel Castro
and in March of that year joined the Cuban Revolution
. In 1953 he joined Fidel and his brother Raúl Castro
in the assault on the Moncada Barracks
in Santiago
, and was arrested and imprisoned with the Castro brothers in the Isle of Pines
Prison. During the amnesty of May 15, 1955, he was released and transferred to Mexico
.
Almeida returned to Cuba with the Castro brothers, Che Guevara
and 78 other revolutionaries on the Granma
expedition, and was one of just 12 who survived the initial landing, during which Cuban government forces killed most of the rebels. During the battle, Almeida shouted "No one here gives up!" (alternatively "here, nobody surrenders") to Guevara, which would become a long-lived slogan of the Cuban revolution. Almeida was also reputed to be a good marksman
. Following the landing, Almeida continued to fight Fulgencio Batista
's government forces in the guerilla war in the Sierra Maestra
mountain range. In 1958, he was promoted to Commander and head of the Santiago Column of the Revolutionary Army. During the revolution, as a black man in a prominent position, he served as a symbol to Afro-Cuban
s of change from Cuba's discriminatory past.
, as Major Juan Almeida, he was head of the Central Army, with headquarters in Santa Clara, Cuba
. Later, he was promoted to General, and was chosen as a member of the central committee and political bureau, and he has held a number of other government positions.
He was honoured with the title of Commander of the Revolution, and at the time of his death was one of just three living holders of that title, the others being Guillermo García and Ramiro Valdés
.
In 1998, Almeida was named a "Hero of the Republic of Cuba" by Fidel Castro. Almeida also headed the National Association of Veterans and Combatants of the Revolution. His interests included writing and music, of which several books and recordings have been made, including the popular trilogy Military prison, Exile and Disembarkation. He was also a songwriter and one of his songs, "Dame un traguito" (English:"Give me a Sip") was popular in Cuba for several years.
in Havana, with several other memorials occurring across Cuba. A national day of mourning was also declared, with flags flown at half mast. The memorial service was attended by tens of thousands of his countrymen, who queued across the Plaza to view a large photograph of Almeida. The service was initiated by President Raúl Castro, who placed a pink rose in front of the photograph, but did not make a statement. Fidel Castro, who at the time had not been seen in public since he resigned as president in 2008, did not attend the ceremony, but did release a statement praising Almeida's "exemplary conduct during more than half a century of heroic and victorious resistance". Fidel Castro also sent a wreath
to the memorial, that was placed alongside that of Fidel's brother, Raúl's. Other senior government and Communist Party members also attended the ceremony.
Internationally, there were several tributes. The President of Vietnam
, Nguyen Minh Triet, sent a message to Raúl Casto, in which he expressed his sadness, describing Almeida as a great friend of the Vietnamese people who contributed to the ties of solidarity between the two nations. In Bolivia
, the Coco and Inti Peredo Foundation (named after two brothers who died alongside Che Guevara
) paid tribute as well. The Secretary of the Colombian Communist Party
, Jaime Caicebo, also expressed his condolencess. Additionally, a musical homage was held in Moscow
where the collection of Almeida's songs entitled "El Bolero Cubano" (Cuban Ballads) were to be released for the first time in Russian translation.
Almeida did not want his body to lie in state. He was given a military funeral
at a mausoleum in mountains near to Santiago de Cuba
, an area in which he fought during the revolution.
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n politician and one of the original commanders of the Cuban Revolution
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista between 1953 and 1959. Batista was finally ousted on 1 January 1959, and was replaced by a revolutionary government led by Castro...
. After the 1959 revolution, he was a prominent figure in the Communist Party of Cuba
Communist Party of Cuba
The Communist Party of Cuba is the governing political party in Cuba. It is a communist party of the Marxist-Leninist model. The Cuban constitution ascribes the role of the Party to be the "leading force of society and of the state"...
; at the time of his death in 2009, he was a Vice-President of the Cuban Council of State and was its third ranking member. He received several decorations, and both national and international awards, including the title of "Hero of the Republic of Cuba
Hero of the Republic of Cuba
The title Hero of the Republic of Cuba is a distinction in Cuba, awarded for heroic feats in service to the Cuban state and society. It has been received by only a few individuals, including Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez, Juan Almeida Bosque, Leonid Brezhnev and the Cuban Five....
" and the Order of Máximo Gómez
Máximo Gómez
Máximo Gómez y Báez was a Major General in the Ten Years' War and Cuba's military commander in that country's War of Independence ....
.
Early life and revolution
Almeida was born in a poor area of HavanaHavana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
. He left school at the age of eleven and became a bricklayer
Bricklayer
A bricklayer or mason is a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork. The term also refers to personnel who use blocks to construct blockwork walls and other forms of masonry. In British and Australian English, a bricklayer is colloquially known as a "brickie".The training of a trade in...
. Whilst studying law at the University of Havana
University of Havana
The University of Havana or UH is a university located in the Vedado district of Havana, Cuba. Founded in 1728, the University of Havana is the oldest university in Cuba, and one of the first to be founded in the Americas...
in 1952, he became close friends with the revolutionary Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
and in March of that year joined the Cuban Revolution
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista between 1953 and 1959. Batista was finally ousted on 1 January 1959, and was replaced by a revolutionary government led by Castro...
. In 1953 he joined Fidel and his brother Raúl Castro
Raúl Castro
Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz is a Cuban politician and revolutionary who has been President of the Council of State of Cuba and the President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba since 2008; he previously exercised presidential powers in an acting capacity from 2006 to 2008...
in the assault on the Moncada Barracks
Moncada Barracks
The Moncada Barracks was a military barracks in Santiago de Cuba, named after General Guillermón Moncada, a hero of the War of Independence. On July 26, 1953, the barracks was the site of an armed attack by a small group of revolutionaries led by Fidel Castro. This armed attack is widely accepted...
in Santiago
Santiago de Cuba
Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city of Cuba and capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province in the south-eastern area of the island, some south-east of the Cuban capital of Havana....
, and was arrested and imprisoned with the Castro brothers in the Isle of Pines
Isle of Youth
Isla de la Juventud is the second-largest Cuban island and the seventh-largest island in the West Indies . The island has an area and is 100 km south of the island of Cuba, across the Gulf of Batabanó...
Prison. During the amnesty of May 15, 1955, he was released and transferred to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
.
Almeida returned to Cuba with the Castro brothers, Che Guevara
Che Guevara
Ernesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist...
and 78 other revolutionaries on the Granma
Granma (yacht)
Granma is the yacht that was used to transport 82 fighters of the Cuban Revolution from Mexico to Cuba in 1956 for the purpose of overthrowing the regime of Fulgencio Batista. The 60-foot diesel-powered cabin cruiser was built in 1943 and designed to accommodate 12 people...
expedition, and was one of just 12 who survived the initial landing, during which Cuban government forces killed most of the rebels. During the battle, Almeida shouted "No one here gives up!" (alternatively "here, nobody surrenders") to Guevara, which would become a long-lived slogan of the Cuban revolution. Almeida was also reputed to be a good marksman
Marksman
A marksman is a person who is skilled in precision, or a sharpshooter shooting, using projectile weapons, such as with a rifle but most commonly with a sniper rifle, to shoot at long range targets...
. Following the landing, Almeida continued to fight Fulgencio Batista
Fulgencio Batista
Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar was the United States-aligned Cuban President, dictator and military leader who served as the leader of Cuba from 1933 to 1944 and from 1952 to 1959, before being overthrown as a result of the Cuban Revolution....
's government forces in the guerilla war in the Sierra Maestra
Sierra Maestra
Sierra Maestra is a mountain range that runs westward across the south of the old Oriente Province from what is now Guantánamo Province to Niquero in southeast Cuba, rising abruptly from the coast. Some view it as a series of connecting ranges , which joins with others extending to the west...
mountain range. In 1958, he was promoted to Commander and head of the Santiago Column of the Revolutionary Army. During the revolution, as a black man in a prominent position, he served as a symbol to Afro-Cuban
Afro-Cuban
The term Afro-Cuban refers to Cubans of Sub Saharan African ancestry, and to historical or cultural elements in Cuba thought to emanate from this community...
s of change from Cuba's discriminatory past.
Post-revolution
After the success of the Cuban revolution in January 1959, Almeida commanded large parts of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba. In April 1961, during the Bay of Pigs InvasionBay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was an unsuccessful action by a CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba, with support and encouragement from the US government, in an attempt to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. The invasion was launched in April 1961, less than three months...
, as Major Juan Almeida, he was head of the Central Army, with headquarters in Santa Clara, Cuba
Santa Clara, Cuba
Santa Clara is the capital city of the Cuban province of Villa Clara. It is located in the most central region of the province and almost in the most central region of the country.- History :Santa Clara was founded by 175 people on July 15th, 1689...
. Later, he was promoted to General, and was chosen as a member of the central committee and political bureau, and he has held a number of other government positions.
He was honoured with the title of Commander of the Revolution, and at the time of his death was one of just three living holders of that title, the others being Guillermo García and Ramiro Valdés
Ramiro Valdés
Ramiro Valdés Menéndez is a Cuban revolutionary and politician. He became a Government Vice President in the 2009 shake-up by Raúl Castro....
.
In 1998, Almeida was named a "Hero of the Republic of Cuba" by Fidel Castro. Almeida also headed the National Association of Veterans and Combatants of the Revolution. His interests included writing and music, of which several books and recordings have been made, including the popular trilogy Military prison, Exile and Disembarkation. He was also a songwriter and one of his songs, "Dame un traguito" (English:"Give me a Sip") was popular in Cuba for several years.
Death
On September 11, 2009, Juan Almeida died of a heart attack, aged 82. On September 13, a memorial ceremony was held in the Plaza de la RevoluciónPlaza de la Revolucion
Plaza de la Revolución is a municipality and a square in Havana, Cuba.The municipality stretches from the square down to the sea at the Malecón and includes the Vedado district.- Square :...
in Havana, with several other memorials occurring across Cuba. A national day of mourning was also declared, with flags flown at half mast. The memorial service was attended by tens of thousands of his countrymen, who queued across the Plaza to view a large photograph of Almeida. The service was initiated by President Raúl Castro, who placed a pink rose in front of the photograph, but did not make a statement. Fidel Castro, who at the time had not been seen in public since he resigned as president in 2008, did not attend the ceremony, but did release a statement praising Almeida's "exemplary conduct during more than half a century of heroic and victorious resistance". Fidel Castro also sent a wreath
Wreath
A wreath is an assortment of flowers, leaves, fruits, twigs and/or various materials that is constructed to resemble a ring. They are used typically as Christmas decorations to symbolize the coming of Christ, also known as the Advent season in Christianity. They are also used as festive headdresses...
to the memorial, that was placed alongside that of Fidel's brother, Raúl's. Other senior government and Communist Party members also attended the ceremony.
Internationally, there were several tributes. The President of Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, Nguyen Minh Triet, sent a message to Raúl Casto, in which he expressed his sadness, describing Almeida as a great friend of the Vietnamese people who contributed to the ties of solidarity between the two nations. In Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
, the Coco and Inti Peredo Foundation (named after two brothers who died alongside Che Guevara
Che Guevara
Ernesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist...
) paid tribute as well. The Secretary of the Colombian Communist Party
Colombian Communist Party
The Colombian Communist Party or PCC is the legal communist party of Colombia. It was founded in 1930, as the Colombian section of the Comintern...
, Jaime Caicebo, also expressed his condolencess. Additionally, a musical homage was held in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
where the collection of Almeida's songs entitled "El Bolero Cubano" (Cuban Ballads) were to be released for the first time in Russian translation.
Almeida did not want his body to lie in state. He was given a military funeral
Military funeral
A military funeral is a specially orchestrated funeral given by a country's military for a soldier, sailor, marine or airman who died in battle, a veteran, or other prominent military figures or heads of state. A military funeral may feature guards of honor, the firing of volley shots as a salute,...
at a mausoleum in mountains near to Santiago de Cuba
Santiago de Cuba
Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city of Cuba and capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province in the south-eastern area of the island, some south-east of the Cuban capital of Havana....
, an area in which he fought during the revolution.
External links
- Juan Almeida Bosque by The Daily TelegraphThe Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
- Cuba Honors a "Commander of the Revolution" by Workers World
- With Juan Almeida, they Broke the Mold by People's Weekly WorldPeople's Weekly WorldThe People's World is a news web site associated with the Communist Party USA.The People's World / Mundo Popular, formerly the People's Weekly World / Nuestro Mundo is a national, grassroots weekly newspaper and the direct descendant of the Daily Worker, founded in 1924...
- Cuba: "Almeida is More Alive Today than Ever!" by Green LeftGreen leftThe term Green left is used primarily to refer to a combination of environmentalism, feminism, socialism, and pacifism in countries where the term is used...
- Almeida Lives Today More Than Ever by Fidel CastroFidel CastroFidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
, Monthly ReviewMonthly ReviewMonthly Review is an independent Marxist journal published 11 times per year in New York City.-History:The publication was founded by Harvard University economics instructor Paul Sweezy, who became the first editor...
, September 13, 2009