Photo: YAMIL LAGE / AFP / Getty Images
The government of Cuba reported the deaths of five high-ranking generals who have perished in the last ten days.
An outbreak of coronavirus during a meeting held in the physical presence of several senior government and army officials, after the lifting of the 11 July on the island , is one of the possible causes of these deaths, but the Cuban government has not reported if this was the cause of the deaths.
COVID cases – 19 have shot up in Cuba during the last month.
If the same dates are compared in the last month, the increase in coronavirus cases can be noted: the 24 June Cuban authorities reported 1, 880 new cases. The 24 July 7, 732 cases were registered new. The island has registered more than 341 , 000 cases and 2, 417 deaths.
Here is the list of Cuban generals who died in the last 10 days, according to 14 ymedio.com :
The bad streak accelerates: a fifth general dies in nine days https://t.co/OAAmm6HyTi 👉 This Monday Armando Choy Rodríguez and Manuel Eduardo Lastres Pacheco passed away pic.twitter .com / ZH5EYBEoLa
– 14and a half (@ 14 ymedio) July 26, 2021
Armando Choy Rodríguez died on 26 of July.
Choy Rodríguez was a brigadier general. He was an author and historian of Chinese descent and founder of the Movement 24 of Julio in Villa Clara. The Central University “Marta Abreu” of Las Villas tweeted on Tuesday that she had passed away on Monday night. I was 87 years old.
Brigadier General Armando Choy Rodriguez, General Coordinator of the Las Villas Combatants’ History Group, passed away last night.Our deepest condolences pic.twitter.com/9xbz8kD3GP
– UCLV 🇨🇺 (@UCLVCU) July 27, 2021
Rubén Martínez Bridge passed away on 24 July
Martínez Puente was a general in the reservation. He is credited with giving the order to shoot down the Brothers to the Rescue planes, a group of pilots searching for and helping Cuban migrants in distress at sea. The Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Cuba, or MININT, announced his death on Saturday. He was 79 years old.
Marcelo Verdecia Perdomo passed away on 20 of July.
Verdecia Perdomo was a reserve brigadier general. He was one of Fidel Castro’s bodyguards . Granma, the Cuban government newspaper, reported his death on 20 of July.
Manuel Eduardo Lastres Pacheco passed away on 19 of July.
The official Cuban press also reported on Monday the death of Brigadier General Manuel Eduardo Lastres Pacheco, who joined the guerrilla of Fidel Castro in 1957 and was also under the orders of Camilo Cienfuegos in Column 2 that made the invasion of western Cuba.
Agustín Peña Porres died on 17 of July.
Peña Porres was the head of the Eastern Army of Cuba. He was a delegate to the VIII Congress of the Communist Party and a member of the Central Committee. Sources close to this military attributed his death to COVID – 19.
Heartfelt condolences to family, friends and combatants of our # Army Oriental, whose Chief, Major General Agustín Peña, has just passed away. The news is very painful and sad.
– Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (@DiazCanelB) July 17, 2021
The deaths of these high-ranking military personnel occurred after the massive protests in Cuba earlier this month, with thousands of Cubans taking to the streets to demand freedom, food and medicine, including COVID vaccines.