The Ministry of Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR) announced on its social media the passing of Reserve Division General Claro Orlando Almaguel Vidal, who was 81 years old.
Born in Guantánamo, Almaguel Vidal developed an extensive career within the military structures of the Cuban state.
According to the official note, he joined the Revolutionary Armed Forces through the National Revolutionary Militias and later completed Military Service.
He then enrolled as a student at the Cadet School in Managua, where he achieved the highest academic record and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant.
Throughout his professional life, he held various positions within the military logistics and transportation system.
Among them, he served as deputy chief and section chief in the Directorate of Technical Services for Tanks and Transportation; section chief of Organization and Planning; and as the substitute and head of the Directorate of Military Transportation.
Starting in 1988, he was appointed as the chief of staff and first deputy of the rear guard of the FAR.
In 1991, he was appointed chief of Logistics for the Western Army and later became the head of the Logistics Command of the Armed Forces. Subsequently, he was designated president of the National Institute of State Reserves.
The MINFAR indicates that it maintained ongoing training within the military system.
He also fulfilled an internationalist mission in the People's Republic of Angola. Additionally, he was a member of the Communist Party of Cuba and served as a deputy in the National Assembly of the People's Power during several legislatures.
The body of Almaguel Vidal was cremated, and his ashes will be interred this Wednesday, the 21st, at the Pantheon of the Revolutionary Armed Forces in the Colón Necropolis, where he will be accorded military honors.
Second death within the military high command in a week
The death of Almaguel Vidal occurs just a few days after the passing of Brigadier General José Luis Mesa Delgado, aged 88, which took place on January 14.
Mesa Delgado was officially introduced as a fighter of the July 26 Movement, the Rebel Army, and the struggle against bandits, with nearly 60 years of service in the FAR and MININT.
His name is linked to one of the most controversial episodes of the Cuban military apparatus: the execution of General Arnaldo Ochoa Sánchez in 1989.
On July 13, 1989, Ochoa was executed by firing squad along with Antonio de la Guardia, Jorge Martínez Valdés, and Amado Padrón Trujillo in an area near the Baracoa airbase. The firing squad was led by then-Colonel Mesa Delgado, who directed the operation and carried out the coup de grâce.
After those events, Mesa Delgado was promoted. Over time, he has been included in lists of repressors for alleged international crimes, including physical abuse, censorship of civil rights, and complicity in homicide.
The mention of Mesa Delgado now appears as part of a recent sequence of deaths within the upper echelons of the Cuban military, bringing to the forefront the history of figures who held key positions within the state's defense and security system.
Filed under: