Ramiro Valdes, one of Cuba's last living revolutionary figures, dies at 94
Ramiro Valdes, one of Cuba's last living revolutionary leaders, died aged 94. A close ally of the Castro brothers, he helped found Cuba's intelligence apparatus and held senior posts for six decades. Havana declared official mourning following the announcement.
According to a Cuban Communist Party statement reported by the South China Morning Post, revolutionary commander and long-serving interior minister Ramiro Valdes died in Havana at the age of 94. Valdes stood with Fidel and Raul Castro from the 1953 Moncada Barracks attack onward, making him one of the few surviving commanders of the revolution.
After the 1959 revolution, he founded the Interior Ministry and is credited as the architect of Cuba's intelligence service known as the G2. Alongside Politburo and Council of State posts, he was tasked by Havana with helping the Maduro government rebuild the Caracas electricity grid. He campaigned with revolutionary symbols Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos in early underground rail-line operations.
Cuban leader Miguel Diaz-Canel declared three days of national mourning. The presidency announced that Valdes's casket would lie in state at the Plaza de la Revolucion for a public ceremony. Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia issued official condolence statements.
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