Joel Iglesias Leyva

Cuban military officer who fought under the command of Che Guevara. He was promoted to lieutenant at fifteen years old and to commander at seventeen years old, the youngest of the Cuban Revolution. After the revolution, he was the first president of the Association of Rebel Youth.

Cuban revolutionary combatant. As an adolescent, he joined the guerrilla force commanded by Fidel Castro in the Sierra Maestra. He was assigned as an aide to Ernesto Guevara, and alongside him he fought in practically the entire war, which ended with him holding the rank of commander of the Rebel Army.

After the triumph of the Revolution, he was appointed as the first president of the Association of Rebel Youth (later called the Union of Communist Youth). He studied Social Sciences at the Ñico López Higher School of the Communist Party and graduated in 1974.

He was born in El Tablón, a rural area located between Palma Soriano, San Luis, and Santiago de Cuba. At nine years old, his family moved to Santiago de Cuba, settling in the San Pedrito neighborhood. He belonged to a family of poor peasants who were sympathetic to the Movement of July 26 led by Fidel Castro.

He joined the guerrilla forces operating in the Sierra Maestra in early 1957, when he was 14 years old.

He met Che on May 19, 1957 in Arroyo del Indio, a tributary of the Peladero River in the Sierra Maestra, when he was 14 years old. The information he had was that this was an Argentine doctor who was with Fidel.

He had his baptism of fire on May 28, 1957, in the Battle of El Uvero, assigned along with Alejandro Oñate ("Cantinflas") to the platoon commanded by Che Guevara. After the battle, they remained with him and "Vilo" for fifty days to hide, protect, and treat seven wounded guerrilleros. When they returned to the camp, Che already had a small autonomous army of 26 combatants.

Guevara personally taught him to read and write. When the Fourth Column was created, he was one of its members. In the Battle of El Hombrito, on November 29, 1957, he was seriously wounded with six bullets. Guevara lifted him up and removed him from the front lines to take him to the hospital, where he survived after being operated on.

He also served in the Ciro Redondo Column Eight, under the command of Commander Guevara, when the guerrilla force came down from the mountains to begin occupying the plains.

In the Battle of Fomento, he was severely wounded. A bullet broke his collarbone and jaw and pierced his throat, leaving him with a speech impairment. They first took him to the Fomento clinic where Guevara arrived, showing the affection he felt for that young man. After the revolution triumphed, he was transferred to the Military Hospital of La Habana where he managed to recover.

After the revolution, he was appointed first president of the Association of Rebel Youth, later called the Union of Communist Youth, until 1964. He studied Social Sciences at the Ñico López Higher School of the Communist Party, graduating in 1974.

In 1975, he wrote the book From the Sierra Maestra to the Escambaray, based on his experiences during the revolution.