Cuban interior minister has died | Julius Caesa …

the Cuban Minister of the Interior, Julio César Gandarilla, deceased this Tuesday in Havana at 77 “because of a long illness”. According to the official Granma newspaper, his body will be cremated and there will be no military ceremony or public activity to dismiss him.

Gandarilla, the ruling Communist Party (CCP) newspaper noted, died “in the early hours of Tuesday”. “With the total respect your will, his corpse will be cremated, and as yet another example of the modesty and simplicity that characterized him, his request for not to perform a military ceremony or public activity“, details the publication.

According to official media, Vice-Admiral Gandarilla “cherished a brilliant record of service, occupying important responsibilities within the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) and the Ministry of the Interior (Minint)”. “In his performance he has always distinguished himself by a proven loyaltythe newspaper added.

Born in the western province of Matanzas in 1943, Gandarilla was founder of the revolutionary national militias, created after the triumph of the Cuban revolution in 1959, and actively participated in the missile crisis in 1962.

Prior to his appointment as Minister of the Interior in 2017, on the proposal of then-President Raúl Castro, Gandarilla was first deputy minister of this portfolio, then for more than 16 years as Head of FAR Counterintelligence Directorate.

Gandarilla was a member of the CPC Central Committee and a member of the National Assembly (Parliament). He also carried out a military mission during the Angolan War (1975-1991) and “special missions to other countries”, according to the Cuban digital encyclopedia Ecured.

Among his last known public acts, the late minister signed in October 2019 a memorandum of understanding and cooperation in terms of safety with the Russian Security Council. A month later, in November 2019, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced sanctions against Gandarilla Bermejo, whom he accused of being involved in “gross human rights violations in Venezuela.”

It is still unclear who will take over as Minister of the Interior when he is replaced. Since its creation in 1961, the portfolio has included 6 ministers: Revolutionary Commander Ramiro Valdés Menéndez (1961-1968), Major General Sergio del Valle Jiménez (1968-1979), Revolutionary Commander Ramiro Valdés Menéndez (1979 -1985), Major General José Abrantes Fernández (1985-1989), Lieutenant General Abelardo Colomé Ibarra (1989-2015), Major General Carlos Fernández Gondín (2015-2016) and Vice-Admiral Julio César Gandarilla Bermejo, who served from 2017 until this Tuesday.