Juan Almeida Bosque

Cuban revolutionary commander. He participated in the Assault on the Moncada Barracks, the Yacht Granma expedition and led one of the Guerrilla Fronts in the Sierra Maestra.

He was part of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Party since its founding in 1965 being ratified in all congresses. He was elected deputy to the National Assembly and vice president of the Council of State, from the first legislature of the Cuban Parliament of the new period that opened after January 1, 1959. He was a commander of the Revolution and president of the Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution. In his role as composer and writer he created more than 300 songs and a dozen books.

He was born in Havana, on February 17, 1927 into a humble family. He participated in the struggle against the coup d'état of March 10, 1952, during which he met Fidel Castro, whom he later followed in the Assault on the Moncada Barracks on July 26, 1953. He was sentenced to ten years in prison as a result of this act.

On October 12, the Minister of Interior, Ramón Heredia, ordered that the group of revolutionaries condemned for the Moncada events, among whom he was included, be transferred to the National Prison of the Isle of Pines. According to the Court's orders they should remain in special facilities, separated from common prisoners[1]. In DC-3 aircraft, from the army, under heavy military guard they were transferred from the province of Oriente to the Isle of Pines.

He was placed, along with the rest of his companions, in one of the rooms of the prison hospital, separated from common prisoners by a brick wall that was built for that purpose. Shortly after he was allowed to receive one visit per month and some correspondence, which was always severely reviewed and censored.

Like the rest of his companions, he refused to accept the special dinner on December 24, 1953 in protest against the murders committed by the army and the rural guard during the Moncada events.

On February 12, 1954, when dictator Fulgencio Batista visited the Prison to inaugurate the power plant of the prison, together with his 25 companions he sang out loud the March of July 26. Batista paid attention to the lyrics and visibly displeased only asked who was singing, then quickly abandoned the penitentiary. For this action Fidel Castro, Ramiro Valdés, Ernesto Tizol, Israel Tápanes and Agustín Díaz Cartaya would be severely punished. He and the rest of his companions had the radio apparatus that the ward had removed and had the delivery of newspapers suspended as well as being forbidden from communicating with the outside.

From 1954 and with greater force from 1955 onwards, a broad national movement began, which encompassed almost all the political tendencies and classes of the country, in favor of a general amnesty that would include the Moncada assailants. On March 10, 1955, in the midst of official celebrations for the third anniversary of the coup d'état, amnesty bills were presented in both chambers of the Cuban Congress.

On May 6, after being approved by both chambers of the Cuban Congress, Fulgencio Batista signed the Amnesty Law that freed all political prisoners, including the assailants of the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes barracks who were serving their sentences in the prison of the Isle of Pines. Thanks to the amnesty on May 15, 1955 he was released along with his fellow political prisoners.

In 1955 he was amnestied along with his companions. He was an expeditionary on the Yacht Granma in 1956. On February 27, 1958 he was promoted to Commander of the Rebel Army and took command of the Santiago de Cuba column.

In March of that same year he directed the III Oriental Front Dr. Mario Muñoz Monroy, which initially adopted the name of III Front of Operations in the Sierra Maestra. After the triumph of the Revolution he went on to hold positions in the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR).

On March 29, 1962, Juan Almeida participated as a member of the Revolutionary Tribunal presided by commander Augusto Martínez Sánchez who was in charge of trying in summary trial the participants of the mercenary invasion at Playa Girón in April 1961. This tribunal was also made up of commanders Guillermo García Frías, Sergio del Valle and Manuel Piñeiro.

He was elected member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and its Political Bureau in October 1965 and was a deputy to the National Assembly of People's Power from the first legislature and Vice President of the Council of State. He was also president of the national leadership of the Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution.

His legacy goes beyond revolutionary struggle as he ventured into art as a writer and as a musical composer. He also composed more than three hundred songs of which several recordings have been made, two of his most popular songs are La Lupe and Dame un traguito.

On September 11, 2009 at 11:30 PM, he died due to cardiorespiratory arrest at the age of 82. His mortal remains were buried in the Mausoleum of the III Oriental Front, in Santiago de Cuba, together with other combatants of the Cuban Revolution.

Honors Received
Honorary Title of Hero of the Republic of Cuba.
Máximo Gómez Order of the first degree (awarded on February 27, 1998, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of his promotion to Commander in the Sierra Maestra).

Published Works
Prison
Exile
Landing
The Sierra
On the Slopes of Turquino
Against Water and Wind, Casa de las Américas Prize (1985)
The Only Citizen
The Commander in Chief Máximo Gómez
Attention! Roll Call!
The Sierra Maestra and Beyond
Something New in the Desert
The Dawn of the Heroes

Source: Ecured