Death
On September 11, 2009, Juan Almeida died of a heart attack, aged 82. On September 13, a memorial ceremony was held in the Plaza de la Revolución in Havana, with several other memorials occurring across Cuba. A national day of mourning was also declared, with flags flown at half mast. The memorial service was attended by tens of thousands of his countrymen, who queued across the Plaza to view a large photograph of Almeida. The service was initiated by President Raúl Castro, who placed a pink rose in front of the photograph, but did not make a statement. Fidel Castro, who at the time had not been seen in public since he resigned as president in 2008, did not attend the ceremony, but did release a statement praising Almeida's "exemplary conduct during more than half a century of heroic and victorious resistance". Fidel Castro also sent a wreath to the memorial, that was placed alongside that of Fidel's brother, Raúl's. Other senior government and Communist Party members also attended the ceremony.
Internationally, there were several tributes. The President of Vietnam, Nguyen Minh Triet, sent a message to Raúl Casto, in which he expressed his sadness, describing Almeida as a great friend of the Vietnamese people who contributed to the ties of solidarity between the two nations. In Bolivia, the Coco and Inti Peredo Foundation (named after two brothers who died alongside Che Guevara) paid tribute as well. The Secretary of the Colombian Communist Party, Jaime Caicebo, also expressed his condolencess. Additionally, a musical homage was held in Moscow where the collection of Almeida's songs entitled "El Bolero Cubano" (Cuban Ballads) were to be released for the first time in Russian translation.
Almeida did not want his body to lie in state. He was given a military funeral at a mausoleum in mountains near to Santiago de Cuba, an area in which he fought during the revolution.
Read more about this topic: Juan Almeida Bosque
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