The retired colonel Ronaldo Encarnación Santovenia, who led the Counterintelligence of the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) in Pinar del Río for over twelve years, passed away at the age of 78 years.
The news was not disseminated by any official media of the regime, but rather emerged on August 3rd through the Facebook profile of Sinecio Díaz Padrón, the municipal president of the Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution (ACRC) in Pinar del Río.
The National Television News (NTV), Granma, and Cubadebate remained silent, an omission that contrasts with the treatment the regime usually grants to high-ranking military figures, whose deaths are announced with an official statement read on television.
A career forged in the security apparatus
Born on October 26, 1947 in Las Martinas, Sandino municipality, Pinar del Río, into a farming family, Encarnación Santovenia worked from a young age in agricultural jobs and entered the "Tranquilino Sandalio de Noda" Tobacco Technological Institute in 1968.
His connection with the security apparatus began in 1969 when, according to the biographical summary published by Díaz Padrón, "he was recruited by the Military Counterintelligence Agency of the FAR and assigned to the Basic Course for Operational Officers; upon completion, he was positioned to oversee Military Units in our territory."
During the following two decades, he rose through various ranks within the Revolutionary Armed Forces: operational officer, chief operational officer, group leader, and head of the operational section.
More than 12 years at the helm of provincial Counterintelligence
In 1993, he was transferred to the MININT, where, according to the biographical note, he assumed “the responsibility of Provincial Chief of Counterintelligence for more than 12 years, being promoted to the rank of Colonel due to the results achieved in his work.”
That period turned him into a central figure of the control and intelligence apparatus in Pinar del Río, with the ability to oversee surveillance operations on the population and dissidents in the area.
Between 2005 and 2010, he served as the national manager of Supervision and Control at SEPSA, a protective services company subordinate to MININT, before retiring that same year.
Internationalist missions and decorations
Encarnación Santovenia participated in internationalist missions in Angola and Ethiopia, and amassed numerous decorations: the commemorative medals for the 40th, 50th, and 60th anniversaries of the FAR and the MININT; the Victoria Cuba-RPA and Victoria Cuba-Ethiopia medals; 14 Distinguished Service decorations; the Production and Defense medal; and the September 28 Distinction from the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution.
By his own decision, his body was cremated and his ashes rest alongside those of his parents in the cemetery of Manuel Lazo, in the municipality of Sandino.
At the provincial funeral home, he received a tribute from his comrades in the FAR and the MININT, as well as from friends and family.
A death without official coverage
That the news was announced by the municipal president of the ACRC, rather than by MININT or any state media, reflects the regime's policy of reserving its public mourning protocols for figures of national significance.
The contrast is evident with other deaths in 2026.
The passing of Brigadier General William Gálvez Rodríguez on July 17 was announced through a statement read on the National Television News.
The same happened with the Brigadier General Alcibíades Wilmer Pérez Rivero, former head of the Military Intelligence Directorate of the FAR, who passed away on July 4.
This year, at least six high-ranking figures from the Cuban military and security apparatus have died: Generals José Luis Mesa Delgado and Claro Orlando Almaguel Vidal (January); Rear Admiral Roberto Eduardo González Luaces (May); Ramiro Valdés Menéndez - founder of MININT - on June 21; General Pérez Rivero on July 4; and General Gálvez Rodríguez on July 17.
The note published by Díaz Padrón concludes with a phrase that summarizes the loyalty the regime demands from its leaders: "We will remember him for his fidelity and unconditional loyalty to the Revolution, to the FAR, to MININT, to Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, and to the Communist Party of Cuba."
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