Ramiro Valdés, an early ally and collaborator of Fidel Castro, dies at the age of 94, according to multiple reports citing Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel. Díaz-Canel announces the death on social media, but does not specify a cause. Valdés is described as one of Castro’s earliest associates and a prominent figure in the revolution’s early phase.
Several sources say Valdés was exiled with Castro in Mexico and later sailed with him on the yacht Granma in 1956 to restart the armed insurrection in Cuba. The outlets also note that he was among the group of 82 men who made the voyage and that only a small number survived the landing.
After the rebels take power in 1959, Valdés is portrayed as a long-serving senior government official. The South China Morning Post adds that he held honorary titles including “Hero of the Republic” and “Commander of the Revolution,” and that he served on Cuba’s ruling party’s Political Bureau for decades. The reports agree on his revolutionary credentials and the fact of his death, while providing limited detail beyond that.
