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General Information on Juan Almeida Bosque
Juan Almeida Bosque was born in Havana on February 17th, 1927. He attended school until the eighth grade studies and got involved in some academies courses but due to his fragile economy he did not conclude them. However, he always liked to read and he got highly interested in the political developments of the country. He began working as a laborer on construction public works and streets reparation and later in the University Spa. From the first moments when he met Fidel they became friends and he announced his revolutionary concerns. On September 11th, 2009, at 23:30, he died due to cardio-respiratory problem at the age of 82 years. His remains rest in the Mausoleum of the Third Eastern Front, in Santiago de Cuba.
Revolutionary Work of Juan Almeida Bosque
Juan Almeida Bosque participated in the struggle initiated after the coup of March 10th, 1952. It was one of the attackers on the Moncada Barracks on July 26th, 1953. For this reason he was sentenced to prison a 10 years period. Unable to develop the struggle in Cuba he travels to Mexico with the rest of the Moncada partners. In political exile he gets prepared in relation to weapons and he is part of the expedition for Cuba on the Granma yacht in 1956. It was at the Alegria de Pio battle the fire baptism of the expedition and it is his historic honor of having shouted: “Here nobody surrenders.” He excelled in the military struggle against Batista’s army. Thus, he was promoted to Rebel Army Commander on February 27th, 1958 and he started managing the Santiago de Cuba column.
Juan Almeida after the Triumph of the Revolution
Since mid-June 1959 Almeida became head of the Revolutionary Air Force. On March 29th, 1962 he participated as a member of the Revolutionary Court who handled the prosecution of participants in the mercenary Bay of Pigs invasion on April 1961. He assumed important responsibilities in the ORI, the Government and the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC by the Spanish Acronyms). Among them are commanding the Rebel Army General Staff of the and the Central Army, of which he was founder. He was a member of the PCC Central Committee and the Politburo since 1965 and chief of this body in the East. As chairman of the Review and Control Committee of the Central Committee and he also served as vice president of the Council of State and President of the Cuban Revolution Combatants Association (ACRC by the Spanish acronyms).
Cultural Legacy of Juan Almeida
As a man of culture Juan Almeida was notable for being the author of a dozen books. He won the Casa de las Américas Prize (House of the Americas Prize) in 1985 for his text Against Water and Wind, which chronicles the events of October 1963 in the pass of Flora Hurricane through Cuba. In his role as an intellectual it is also included The Only Citizen Woman, volume published in 1985 where the Commander of the Revolution evokes the guerrilla formation during the days of the Sierra Maestra, the first skirmishes, contacts with the peasantry, the landscape, the flora and starring as the only citizen woman who teaches green medicine to cure and claims the love of the land. Shortly after the trilogy Presidio, Exile and Landing gets published successively in 1986, 1987 and 1988. Sierra Maestra and By the Turquino Foothills are published in 1989. Other publications such as the Bohemia Cuban Magazine brought to light on several occasions poems of Almeida. This illustrious Cuban was also the author of more than 300 songs, among which are: “La Lupe,” “This Long Road”, “Its Best to Conclude”, “Be Back Soon” and “Best December.”
