José Ramón Machado Ventura

Cuban revolutionary who stood out for his struggle against the Batista dictatorship. Upon the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, he held several positions in the Cuban government, including that of Minister of Public Health, until being elected First Vice President of the Councils of State and Ministers of Cuba in 2008.

He was born in San Antonio de las Vueltas, former province of Las Villas. He began his revolutionary activities from the very day of the coup d'état on March 10, 1952, when he was a medical student at the University of Havana. He participated in activities guided by the University Student Federation (FEU). After graduating as a doctor, he maintained revolutionary ties and commitments as a member of the July 26 Movement.

Later he joined the guerrilla struggle in the Sierra Maestra. He was part of Column No. 4 under the command of Commander Ernesto Che Guevara and later Column No. 1 under the command of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz.

In March 1958 he was selected to be part of the Column that, under the orders of Commander Raúl Castro Ruz, departed from the Sierra Maestra to establish in the north of the former province of Oriente the Second Eastern Front Frank País, he was promoted to the rank of Captain and was assigned the task of organizing what would later become the Military Health Department, whose leadership he held until the end of the guerrilla struggle.

This responsibility enabled him to establish an extensive network of hospitals and field dispensaries that provided services to the Rebel Army and to a large extent to the population of a vast zone of the current provinces of Guantánamo, Santiago de Cuba, and Holguín. He participated in several combats and skirmishes as a doctor and fighter.

From January 1, 1959, he has held various responsibilities, including those of Presidential Assistant, Chief of Medical Services of the City of Havana, Chief of Medical Services of the FAR, and Minister of Public Health, a position he held for more than seven years (1960-1967).

When the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba was established in 1965, he became a member of it. In January 1968 he was designated delegate of the Political Bureau in the province of Matanzas and in June 1971 he assumed the position of First Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee in the current Havana provinces.

At the I Congress of the Party held in December 1975, he was ratified in the Central Committee and elected member of the Political Bureau, a position ratified at subsequent Congresses. The III Plenary of the Central Committee held in November 1976 elected him member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee. He was a member of the Organizing Commission of the IV Congress of the Party.

In December 1976, when the National Assembly of People's Power of Cuba was established, he was elected member of the Council of State. He is Deputy for the municipality of Guantánamo. In the years 1981, 1986, and 1993 he was ratified by the National Assembly of People's Power in the position of member of the Council of State of Cuba.

He has traveled to different countries in fulfillment of Party and Government missions. For his outstanding revolutionary career he has been distinguished with different medals and decorations.

From February 24, 2008, he assumed the position of First Vice President of the Councils of State and Ministers of Cuba.