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Early Castro Compatriot Almeida Dead at 82

Rebel leader coined revolutionary slogan 'Here, nobody surrenders!'

By Harry Kimball, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 12, 2009 12:32 PM CDT

(Newser) – One of the original leaders of the Cuban Revolution and a general in Fidel Castro’s military has died, the BBC reports. Juan Almeida Bosque, 82, was the third most senior member in Raul Castro’s Council of State and the only black member of the Cuban leadership. Almeida met Fidel at the University of Havana in 1952, was jailed after a failed 1953 insurrection, and led troops in the successful 1959 revolution.

Flags will fly at half-mast tomorrow, and the Cuban state media announced Almeida is “in the hearts and minds of his compatriots.” The cause of death was heart failure. Almeida fled with other rebels to Mexico in 1956, and returned to fight from the Sierra Maestra in 1959. In one pivotal battle, he led his troops in an attack on a superior force with the cry, “Here, nobody surrenders!” The exhortation became a motto of the revolutionary movement.

Cuba's Commander of the Revolution, Juan Almeida Bosque, right, and Cuba's President Raul Castro speak during the National Assembly of Popular Power in Havana in August. (AP Photo)

Cuban commander Juan Almeida Bosque visits the Granjita Siboney museum on the outskirts of Santiago, Cuba, in 2008. (AP Photo)

Juan Almeida Bosque in 1959. (AP Photo)

Juan Almeida Bosque. (AP Photo)

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Early Castro Compatriot Almeida Dead at 82

Rebel leader coined revolutionary slogan 'Here, nobody surrenders!'

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Fidel Emerges to Promote New Memoir

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But American Alan Gross not among those to be released

As Cuba Opens Up, Castro Hits Corruption

Free market reforms require crackdown, say Cuba officials

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Waiter earning $15 a month can sell 30-year-old Moskvich for $5K

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But only within certain stringent limits

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Early Castro Compatriot Almeida Dead at 82

Rebel leader coined revolutionary slogan 'Here, nobody surrenders!'

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OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

Fidel Castro • Cuba • obituary • Raul Castro • Communism • Cuban Revolution • Juan Almeida Bosque • insurrection

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

Fidel Emerges to Promote New Memoir

Castro, the former Cuban leader, talks up 1,000-page tome

Cuba to Free 2,900 Prisoners

But American Alan Gross not among those to be released

As Cuba Opens Up, Castro Hits Corruption

Free market reforms require crackdown, say Cuba officials

Poor Cubans Eye Gold Rush as Car Market Opens

Waiter earning $15 a month can sell 30-year-old Moskvich for $5K

Cuba Allows Citizens to Buy, Sell Homes

But only within certain stringent limits

About Us

Site

Newser By Users

Community

Site Maps

Tools

More News

What is Newser?