Guillermo García Frías

Cuban military officer and politician. Commander of the Revolution and Hero of the Republic of Cuba. One of the historical leaders of the Cuban Revolution.

He was part of the support group organized by Celia Sánchez Manduley in the Sierra Maestra to assist the future Rebel Army. After the landing of the Granma, he joined the revolutionary forces commanded by Fidel Castro. In the Rebel Army he achieved the rank of commander and was the second chief of the Third Eastern Front.

After the triumph of the Revolution, he was chief of the Army of the West, vice president of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers, and minister of transport.

Of peasant origin, he was born in El Plátano, a remote point in the Sierra Maestra belonging to the municipality of Pilón in the province of Oriente.

He was part of the support group organized by Celia Sánchez Manduley that had the mission of supporting the expedition that Fidel Castro was to command from Mexico. After the landing of the Granma and the defeat of the expeditionaries at Alegría de Pío, Guillermo was a key factor in allowing the surviving revolutionaries to regroup at Cinco Palmas. Fidel ordered him in that same place to collect the weapons that the men of the Granma had left scattered before regrouping, which he successfully completed.

He was the first peasant incorporated into the Rebel Army and as part of Juan Almeida's squad, he participated in the attack on the La Plata barracks on January 17, 1957, the first victorious action by the rebels. Later he himself would receive command of a squad in the successful rebel ambush against Sánchez Mosquera's troops at Arroyo del Infierno.

In mid-March 1957, the small rebel force received the first major reinforcement in men and weapons sent from the plains by Frank País García, chief of Action and Sabotage of the 26th of July Movement. It consisted of about fifty men under the command of captain Jorge Sotús. With this force, Column 1 José Martí was restructured and three squads were formed. Guillermo García, with the rank of lieutenant, received command of one of the squads of captain Jorge Sotús's platoon. On May 6, 1957, he was promoted to captain and received the mission of taking charge of all peasants who entered as recruits to the rebel forces.

Together with Jorge Sotús, he received the order to advance along the coastal road toward the El Uvero barracks, when the Rebel Army assaulted this Army position on May 28, 1957.

Under Almeida's command, he became the second in command of the Third Eastern Front commanded by Juan Almeida Bosque. When the Revolution triumphed on January 1, 1959, he held the rank of commander.

As an officer of the Armed Forces, he was chief of the Army of the West. Founder of the Communist Party of Cuba, he was a member of its Political Bureau. He was also vice president of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers and minister of transport. Creator of the National Enterprise for the Protection of Flora and Fauna, whose direction he currently holds.

He is a Hero of the Republic of Cuba.

Published Works
The Last Combat
Meeting with the Truth