Ramiro Valdés Menéndez

Cuban revolutionary combatant, Hero of the Republic of Cuba and Commander of the Revolution. He participated in the Assault on Moncada Barracks, was an expeditionary on the yacht Granma and was part of the Rebel Army in the struggle against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in Cuba. He is currently a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba and Vice President of the Councils of State and Ministers.

He participated in the Assault on Moncada Barracks at barely 21 years old, surviving despite being among those who volunteered for a position in the vanguard. He was among the eight selected to take post 3 of the Moncada, and would be the first to penetrate the barracks, after breaking down the chain that blocked passage in that area, along with his companions José Ponce and Jesús Montané, and would be among the last to leave, after being wounded.

He was among the 27 assault participants who were arrested and tried by the Emergency Court of Santiago de Cuba. After spending some time in Boniato prison, he was transferred to the national penitentiary of Isla de Pinos.

On October 12, the Minister of Interior, Ramón Heredia, ordered that the group of revolutionaries sentenced for the Moncada events, within which was Ramiro Valdés, be transferred to the National Penitentiary of Isla de Pinos. 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 custody, they were transferred from the province of Oriente to Isla de Pinos[2].

He was placed, along with the rest of his companions, in one of the hospital wards of the prison, separated from common prisoners by a brick wall that was built for that purpose[2]. 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 of the murders committed by the army and rural guard during the Moncada events[2].

On February 12, 1954, when dictator Fulgencio Batista visited the Penal to inaugurate the prison's power plant, Ramiro Valdés, along with his 25 companions[3] sang at the top of their voices the March of July 26. Batista listened to the lyrics and, visibly displeased, only asked who was singing, then quickly abandoned the penitentiary. For this action he was severely punished along with Fidel Castro, Israel Tápanes, Ernesto Tizol, and Agustín Díaz Cartaya.

He was sent to Pavilion Two (the one for the mentally ill) to a punishment cell: a cubic niche 2 meters long by 1.5 meters wide, where one could only remain standing in a hunched position. The door only had an opening to pass food through, but no light. The prisoners' physiological needs were conducted in a hole in the floor. He remained punished there for fifteen days.

From 1954 and with greater force from 1955 onward, a broad national movement began, encompassing nearly all political tendencies and classes of the country, in favor of a general amnesty that would include the Moncada assault participants. On March 10, 1955, amid the official celebrations of 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[4], including the assault participants from the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes barracks who were serving their sentences at the Isla de Pinos penitentiary. Thanks to the amnesty, on May 15, 1955, he was released along with his political prison companions.

After being amnestied, he traveled to Mexico, in order to help organize and train for the expedition that Fidel was preparing to resume the struggle in Cuba. He was part of the 82 expeditionaries on the yacht Granma who landed on December 2, 1956 on the southern coast of Oriente. Ramiro received the rank of lieutenant during the voyage.

After the surprise at Alegría de Pío, he managed to withdraw from the place in the company of a small group of combatants formed by Captain Juan Almeida, medical lieutenant Ernesto Guevara and expeditionaries Rafael Chao Santana and Reinaldo Benítez. He then began a difficult march along the coast heading east with the objective of reaching the Sierra Maestra[5]. During the journey they were joined by Camilo Cienfuegos, Francisco González and Pablo Hurtado who had also been dispersed.

He was part of the guerrilla nucleus that began the struggle in the Sierra Maestra after the difficult days following the landing. In mid-March 1957, the small rebel troop received the first major reinforcement in men and weapons sent from the plains by the head of Action and Sabotage of the July 26 Movement, Frank País García. It consisted of about fifty men under the command of Captain Jorge Sotús. With this troop, Column 1 José Martí was restructured and three platoons were formed. Ramiro Valdés, with the rank of lieutenant, received command of one of the squads of Captain Raúl Castro's platoon[6].

Later he joined the 4th and when the invasion column 8 Ciro Redondo was created, under the command of Commander Ernesto Che Guevara, he was appointed its second chief. Thus he carried out the invasion to the west and subsequently, once in the territory of the former province of Las Villas, he participated in the actions of Escambray and the taking of Santa Clara, until the triumph of January 1959, which he reached with the ranks of Commander.

After the revolutionary triumph, he continued the trajectory that makes him deserving of the admiration and respect of the Cuban people, from his appointment as military chief in the central region, to the founding of the State Security Organs. He was Minister of Interior when it was created in 1961 and in 1979, when he was appointed again to the position, after holding other posts such as First Vice Minister of the FAR and other responsibilities. Since August 2006 he held the position of Minister of Informatics and Communications, being relieved of the position in January 2011 to attend to the sectors of Construction, Basic Industry, and Informatics and Communications.

He is currently a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba and Vice President of the Councils of State and Ministers. Deputy to the National Assembly of People's Power. Hero of the Republic of Cuba.