José Ramón Balaguer Cabrera, who was a combatant in the clandestine struggle and the Rebel Army and who held responsibilities such as the Ministry of Public Health between 2004 and 2010, died this Friday in Cuba at the age of 90.
According to the obituary published by the official newspaper, GranmaBalaguer Cabrera was born on June 6, 1932 in eastern Guantánamo, where he studied at a convent school. He later went to Colegio La Salle and completed high school in Santiago de Cuba. In Havana he studied medicine.
With deep sorrow, our people learned today of the death of Commander José Ramón Balaguer Cabrera, a revolutionary of extraordinary integrity and commitment.
Since @MINSAPCuba We send our deepest condolences to your family and friends. pic.twitter.com/tRglLyd2Mo
– José Angel Portal Miranda (@japortalmiranda) July 16, 2022
He joined the fight against Batista from the Federation of University Students (FEU) and by May 1957 he had joined the group that Frank País sent to the Sierra Maestra. He was arrested and imprisoned, and later, in 1958, he joined Column 19 of the Frank País Second Eastern Front.
After 1959, he held responsibilities as First Secretary of the Provincial Committee of the Party in Santiago de Cuba, member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee, Ambassador of Cuba in the former USSR, later Russia (from 1990 to 1992) and member of the Political Bureau, organ of the who served as Delegate in the province of Granma between 1994 and 1995.
In 2010 he rejoined the work of the Party and the following year he became Head of the Department of International Relations of the Central Committee, a job he carried out until 2019, when he requested his release due to “health problems”.
He received several decorations for his political work.
His body will be cremated and his ashes will be exposed this Saturday at the Veterans Pantheon of the Colon Necropolis, between 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m., until his subsequent transfer to the Frank País Second Eastern Front Mausoleum. .
