Died Chomy Miyar, living file of Fidel Castro

Jose MiguelChomi Barruecos soup(Siboney, 1932); who died in Havana, will be buried this Saturday in the Pantheon of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR), in the Colón cemetery, after being watched from five in the afternoon this Friday, on the third floor of the Calzada y K funeral home. , said toCyberCubaa former bodyguard of Cuban President Fidel Castro Ruz.

"Chomi He was always loyal and close to theboss(Fidel Castro), taking photos and writing down, in his notebooks, all the details of the life" of the commander in chief; including visitors, with arrival and departure times and topics discussed, noted the retired lieutenant colonel, visibly affected by the death of the former secretary of the Council of State and former minister.

"Those notebooks - unless they have been collected - were distributed between the Historical Archive (State Council) and the house at 160, where they were taken, a few years ago and with them one could reconstruct Fidel's life, almost minute by minute." , he recalled.

The house at 160, located on the street of the same name; at the bottom of the National Center for Scientific Research (CNIC), it functioned as a private residence for alternate uses and a pavilion to receive gifts from foreign statesmen, for several years; including its own garrison, which was reinforced with the first ring of the escort, during the visits and stays of the president.

Before going on to work directly with Fidel Castro,ChomiMiyar served as rector of the University of Havana; coinciding with ideological cleansing campaigns and the so-called parameterization of homosexuals of both sexes.

Miyar Barruecos survived the 1989 purge, which took away other people close to Fidel Castro such as JoséPepinNaranjo, José Abrantes and Emilio Aragonés; but the illness of his boss and the consolidation of the raulato marked his decline.

With the death ofChomiThe closest living memory of the leader of the Cuban revolution disappears; and of the former secretaries and executive assistants of the prime minister and president, only Osmany Cienfuegos survives; Well, Martha Frayde, Conchita Fernández, Celia Sánchez and himselfPepin Naranjo, they died before.

"ChomiHe knew how to work with a small team, which soon became accustomed to Fidel's guerrilla and nomadic style; although he was also organizing the work in the Secretariat, to which abundant information came from everywhere; including auxiliary departments and prioritized tasks," stressed the former bodyguard.

Upon the death of Celia Sánchez, Miyar Barruecos preserved the old balance between Fidel Castro's offices in the Palace of the Revolution and the one known as Garrison of 11, where in addition to escort and sports facilities for the president's private use, it housed the Historical Archive of the Council of State and a network of offices on agricultural experimentation plans; among others.

The death of Pedro Álvarez Tabío (2009) leftChomi-until this Friday- as the greatest and only living reference about Fidel Castro; Although it has not been revealed whether he left written testimony about his long years of work and coexistence with the most influential politician of the Cuban half of the century, whether he classified and refined his famous booklets and recordings or left recorded testimony of his experiences.

Nor have any details been revealed about his abundant and peculiar photographic archive that, with Japanese passion, he nurtured for years with only images of Fidel Castro and his companions.

Widowed for several years, he is survived by several children distributed between Cuba, Spain and Italy; all with a low public profile, although aware of the weight that a call from their father to a member of the Political Bureau, minister, ambassador or any Cuban official of different rank had.

"Communication with Celia was very easy because she saw us as her family and Fidel's; but Miyar helped colleagues in various situations and the few times he was not there, we missed him; but we are old and death is leaving us alone and full of memories," concluded the former guard, who praised the perseverance and dedication ofChomi".

José Miguel Miyar Barruecos was also a member of the Central Committee of the ruling communist party, a deputy to the National Assembly, where the oldest people still remember him for a debate on the frozen housing zones, which Castro cut short, and National Labor Hero .