 |  Here, nobody surrenders!  Slogan from the revolutionary struggle attributed to Almeida |
One of the original protagonists of the Cuban revolution, Juan Almeida Bosque, has died of heart failure at the age of 82. Juan Almeida Bosque (February 17, 1927 – September 11, 2009) was the third ranking member of the Cuban Council of State and one of the original commanders of the Cuban Revolution. He was one of only a few individuals who have received the honorary title of Hero of the Republic of Cuba.
Almeida was born in a poor area of Havana and left school at the age of eleven and became a bricklayer. Whilst studying law at the University of Havana in 1952, he became close friends with the revolutionary Fidel Castro and in March of that year joined the Cuban Revolution. In 1953 he joined Fidel Castro and his brother Raúl Castro in the assault on the Moncada barracks in Santiago and was arrested and imprisoned with the Castro brothers in the Isle of Pines Prison. During the amnesty of May 15, 1955, he was released and transferred to Mexico. Almeida returned to Cuba with the Castros and Che Guevara on the Granma expedition and was one of just 16 who survived the initial landing during which Cuban government forces killed most of the rebels. During the battle Almeida shouted "No one here gives up!" (alternatively "here, nobody surrenders") to Guevara, which would become a long-lived slogan of the Cuban revolution. Almeida was also reputed to be a good marksman. During the revolution, as a black man in a prominent position, he served as a symbol to Afro-Cubans of change from Cuba's discriminatory past.
He was named a "Hero of the Cuban Republic" by Fidel Castro in 1998. Commander of the Revolution Juan Almeida Bosque died of heart attack at 82 on September 11, 2009. The Cuban authorities are organising a memorial ceremony for Sunday 13 September at the monument to fellow revolutionary José Martí in Havana's Revolution Plaza with several other memorials occurring across Cuba. The date will also be a national day of mouring during which flags will be flown at half mast. Almeida did not wish for his body to lie in state and the Cuban government has stated that it will honour his wish. His body will be given a military funeral.
Almeida could often been seen at the side of Fidel and Raul Castro
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