Raúl Castro, 95 years old, made a new public appearance this Tuesday as he led the first honor guard for Ramiro Valdés Menéndez at the headquarters of the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR) in Havana, accompanied by the leader Miguel Díaz-Canel, as reported by Canal Caribe.
The event served as a posthumous tribute to the historic leader of Castroism, who passed away on Sunday, June 21, at the age of 94, and also brought together the Army Corps Generals Álvaro López Miera and Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas, Ministers of the FAR and the Interior, respectively.
Next to the urn that holds Valdés's ashes, his awards and the Cuban flag, which in 1997 presided over the transfer of the remains of Che Guevara and his subordinates from Bolivia to Santa Clara, were displayed.
After the tribute, Raúl Castro personally approached Valdés's family to express his condolences, as reported by the state media.
The reappearance of Raúl carries a particular symbolic weight: he is the last survivor of the founding core of Castroism bidding farewell to his closest comrade in struggle.
His public appearances are becoming increasingly sporadic; the last one was on June 6 at the Karl Marx Theatre, during an event for his own 95th birthday and the 65th anniversary of the MININT, where he was described as visibly deteriorated.
While the regime organizes tribute ceremonies in state institutions across the country, with students, military personnel, and officials paying honors and signing condolence books, widespread sectors of Cubans remember Valdés as the architect of the State's repressive machinery.
The deceased founded the MININT in 1961, created the Department of State Security and the General Directorate of Intelligence, and was known by nicknames such as "Blood Pond" and "the Butcher of Artemisa."
The regime has declared an official mourning through Presidential Decree 1247, signed by Díaz-Canel, with flags at half-mast on public buildings and military institutions throughout this Tuesday.
With the death of Valdés, the so-called historical generation of the Cuban Revolution is left with only two figures: Raúl Castro and Guillermo García Frías.
The remains of the former leader will be transferred to Santa Clara on Thursday, June 25, for his final burial with military honors at the Mausoleum of the Front of Las Villas, in accordance with his wish to rest alongside his comrades and near his leader, Ernesto Guevara de la Serna.
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