The Party for Socialism and Liberation is honoring Cuban revolutionary Ramiro Valdés Menéndez following reports of his death, sending condolences to the Communist Party of Cuba, the Cuban people, and his family in a formal letter of solidarity.
The party published the letter, dated June 24, through Liberation News, its official publication. The letter came days after news broke that Valdés died in Havana at 94. It was addressed to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and published in Spanish alongside the English version.
In the letter, Socialism and Liberation called Valdés an “indispensable figure” and “a model of lifelong dedication to the socialist cause and its material construction.” The party praised his involvement in the 1953 assault on the Moncada Barracks that helped launch the Cuban Revolution, as well as the Granma expedition three years later that saw the return of Castro-led revolutionaries from Mexico to Cuba. It also honored his years of combat with the Rebel Army in the Sierra Maestra and later work in the Cuban government.
“His life and trajectory over more than six decades of the Cuban Revolution embody the core values we all hold as revolutionaries: unwavering commitment, absolute dedication, and sustained, active resistance,” the party wrote.
Valdés was among the last surviving senior figures of the Cuban Revolution. In reporting news of his death, the Associated Press wrote that he was a close ally of Fidel and Raúl Castro dating back to the Moncada attack. He also fought under Ernesto “Che” Guevara and became one of the few rebels to receive the honorary title of Commander of the Revolution.
Valdés also held several senior posts in the Cuban government, including interior minister, minister of information technology and communications, vice president, and deputy prime minister. He eventually fell out with Fidel Castro while serving as interior minister in 1986 and would not return to his inner circle until 2003, when he rejoined the Council of State, later becoming vice president of Cuba and the Communist Party’s third-ranking leader.
Reuters later reported in 2021 that Valdés was not included in the party’s new Political Bureau, though it noted he remained a deputy prime minister. In its coverage, El País said he held that role until his death.
“Ramiro Valdés Menéndez’s legacy will live on in the hearts and actions of all who follow the path he and his comrades charted, the struggle for socialism, against imperialism, and for all humanity,” Socialism and Liberation wrote.
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