The Ministry of Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR) announced the passing of reserve brigade general William Gálvez Rodríguez, according to a statement read on the National Television News (NTV) this Thursday.
The statement from MINFAR read on national television only outlined the revolutionary path of the deceased without specifying the age or providing any details about the circumstances of his death, a systematic practice of the Cuban regime when it comes to the death of high-ranking military figures.
However, according to EcuRed Gálvez Rodríguez was born on October 21, 1933, in Holguín, which means that he died at the age of 92.
An atypical general: Military officer, writer, and journalist
Unlike most generals of his generation, Gálvez Rodríguez was a unique figure within the military leadership.
In addition to his military career, he developed a prolific intellectual activity as a writer, journalist, and historian.
He graduated with a degree in Social Sciences from the Ñico López Higher School of the Party, where he studied from 1974 to 1979, and collaborated in publications such as Granma, Juventud Rebelde, and the magazine Verde Olivo.
His book Camilo, Lord of the Vanguard (1979, 574 pages) is regarded as the definitive biography of Camilo Cienfuegos, with whom he maintained a personal friendship since the days of the guerrilla.
He also received the Casa de las Américas Award in 1995 for The African Dream of Che: What Happened in the Congolese Guerrilla?, a work translated into French and English.
Interestingly, it's worth noting that the few photographs of him circulating on social media always show him dressed in civilian clothes, in stark contrast to other generals of his time, who invariably appear in uniform.
A journey that began against Batista
Gálvez Rodríguez was expelled in the 1950s from the Holguín Technological Institute, where he was studying Agricultural Engineering, for protesting against the coup d'état of Fulgencio Batista.
Since then, he joined the July 26 Movement, led the Action and Sabotage group in Holguín, and participated in the uprising on November 30 in Santiago de Cuba.
On January 1, 1958, he arrived at the Sierra Maestra, at Che Guevara's camp, where he was instructed to present himself to Fidel Castro.
He was incorporated into Column Number 1 and participated in battles such as Pino del Agua II, Santo Domingo, and Providencia.
Later, he requested to join the troop of Camilo Cienfuegos and was appointed as the leader of the second platoon of Column Number 2 "Antonio Maceo," participating in the invasion of the western territory with the rank of captain.
After the triumph of the Revolution, he was promoted to commander, participated in the so-called "cleansing of Escambray," and fought in the battles of Playa Girón.
He fulfilled an internationalist mission in Angola between 1982 and 1983, and served as a deputy in the National Assembly of People's Power.
The historic generation is fading away
The death of Gálvez Rodríguez is part of a series of deaths that in 2026 has ravaged the so-called historical generation of the Cuban regime.
In January, Brigadier General José Luis Mesa Delgado and Major General Claro Orlando Almaguel Vidal passed away.
In May, Rear Admiral Roberto Eduardo González Luaces passed away.
On June 21, at the age of 94, Ramiro Valdés Menéndez passed away, founder of the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) and regarded as the architect of the regime's repressive apparatus.
On July 4, Brigadier General Alcibíades Wilmer Pérez Rivero, former head of the Military Intelligence Directorate of the FAR, passed away.
With each new death, the foundational core of the Cuban regime shrinks even further, leaving as the only visible survivors Raúl Castro, Guillermo García Frías, and José Ramón Machado Ventura.
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