In the early hours of January 15, outstanding combatant Pedro Miret Prieto, died in Havana, at 88 years old, the result of a heart attack.
Born February 19, 1927, in the city of Santiago de Cuba, he began his revolutionary activities after the March 10, 1952 coup d'état led by Fulgencio Batista. He later participated in the attacks on the Moncada Garrison and was subsequently imprisoned in the National Penitentiary of the Isle of Pines, as it was known at that time. Miret was a member of the July 26th Movement’s National Directorate since its founding in 1955, until his departure for Mexico to help with preparations for the Granma expedition, in which he was unable to participate, due to his arrest in that country. He joined the Rebel Army in March, 1958, and served under Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro in the Sierra Maestra, reaching the rank of Commander in December that same year.
Miret carried out important functions in the Ministry of Revolutionary Armed Forces, including that of First Deputy Minister, and leading the artillery unit at the battle of Playa Girón. He also acted as Minister of various sectors and a vice president of the Council of Ministers from 1983-2009.
The outstanding Comandante was elected as a member of the Party Central Committee and Deputy to the National Assembly of People’s Power, since their creation in 1965 and 1976, respectively. He served as a member of the Council of State from its first to sixth legislature, and vice president of the body between 1986 and 1993. Miret was also a member of the Political Bureau from the first Party Congress, in 1975, through its fourth, held in 1991; and was elected to the Central Committee Secretariat during the Party’s First and Second Congresses.
He received countless decorations and distinctions in recognition of his committed and loyal service to the Party and the Revolution, and held the titles of founder of the Communist Party of Cuba and Decorated Hero of the Republic of Cuba.
Compañero Pedro Miret Prieto’s body was cremated and his ashes displayed in the Veterans Mausoleums in Colón Cemetery, where the funeral service also took place.
