Osmani Cienfuegos Gorriarán

Cuban political leader and older brother of Camilo Cienfuegos. He held several positions in the Cuban government.

Cienfuegos was the only one of three brothers who attended the University of La Habana, where he graduated as an architect in 1954. He joined the Popular Socialist Party (PSP). He went into exile in México in 1957 and remained there until 1959. He was a captain in the Rebel Army.

During his studies, Osmany worked on the team of the magazine Espacio at the School of Architecture and, shortly after graduating, together with his colleague Daniel Taboada, he worked at the studio of Antonio Quintana Simonetti on the executive projects of the Cabañas del Sol at the beach resort of Varadero.

At the same time, he remained underground in La Habana, was imprisoned and tortured. Some know him as the brother of Camilo Cienfuegos, but his own brother said of him in 1956: "...with what sadness I bid you farewell because there is everything in you... a great Cuban... hearing you speak new worlds are known... you, like me should spend more time being like him..." (Camilo Cienfuegos, October 1956 – letter to his brother Humberto).

After his brother's death, he was elected Minister of Public Works (today Construction) in 1960 and from there he addressed Urban Reform.

After the founding of the Communist Party of Cuba in 1965, Cienfuegos was elected president of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Central Committee of the PCC. He played a key role in implementing Cuban policies toward Africa in the 1960s, such as the intervention in the Congo in 1965. In 1966, he was appointed Secretary General of the Organization of Solidarity of the Peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America (OSPAAAL). During these years a characteristic poster collection was created that went down in the history of design in Cuba.

In 1968, the experience began in the Sierra del Rosario Plan, in the then province of Pinar del Río. That project reforested, terraced, built roads and the community of Las Terrazas, finally inaugurated in 1971 and today a National Monument since 2020.

Likewise, he was the principal architect of the design team for the Moka Hotel in Las Terrazas, inaugurated in 1994, which crowns the community development of "Las Terrazas" with an excellent adaptation to the topography and respect for nature. Bold in design, it takes elements from Cuban and local traditional architecture. Nature itself is the protagonist of what is complemented by the combination of materials, colors and textures, considered architect Universo García Lorenzo.

Osmany Cienfuegos was a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party between 1980 and 1987, and later continued on the Central Committee, he was also a member of the Council of State after 17 years of membership (1980-1987). He remained as a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and in the 1990s was appointed Minister of Tourism until his replacement in 1998.

He was vice president of the Council of Ministers of Cuba until March 2, 2009. His departure caused controversy after some press reports suggested that he had been dismissed by Cuban president, Raúl Castro. Fidel Castro responded by criticizing such reports.

After his retirement from political life, Osmani returned to Las Terrazas, the place where he lived until his death.