(The following article is from the October 1-15, 2009, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

Cuba declared Sept. 14 a National Day of Mourning in memory of Juan Almeida Bosque, who commanded the Third Front in the Rebel Army which overthrew the dictator Fulgencio Batista. The 82-year-old "Commander of the Revolution" died of a heart attack late in the evening of Sept. 12. Tens of thousands of Cubans paid tribute to Almeida at the Jose Marti Memorial in Havana, and much of the country's TV programming was devoted to documentary footage of this remarkable revolutionary.

     Born Feb. 27, 1927, Juan Almeida began work as a bricklayer at the age of eleven. In March 1952, as a law student at the University of Havana, he met Fidel Castro, another aspiring attorney, and joined the fight against the dictatorship.

     Almeida took part in the armed attack on the Moncada military barracks in the eastern city of Santiago, on July 26, 1953. He and other captured survivors, including Fidel and Raul Castro, were sent to prison on Isla de los Pinos, later renamed Isla de la Juventud (Isle of Youth). After being granted an amnesty in May 1955, Almeida accompanied Fidel and other comrades to Mexico. There they formed a guerrilla army which returned in December 1956 on the yacht Granma to launch their battle from the Sierra Maestra region.

     Almeida, the Castro brothers and Ernesto "Che" Guevara were among only 16 who survived the landing, in which most of the rebels were killed by Batista's troops. "No one here gives up!" Almeida shouted to Guevara at the time, giving the Cuban revolution one of its most lasting slogans. As a guerrilla leader, Almeida later headed the Third Front of military operations in eastern Cuba.

     After Batista fled on New Year's Day 1959, Almeida served in various military posts, ranging from head of motorized units to chief of the Rebel Army's Air Force. He later was named a vice minister and chief of staff of the Revolutionary Armed Forces. He was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, which held its first congress in October 1965 after the merger of Fidel's July 26 Movement, the Popular Socialist Party (Cuba's original Communist Party), and the Revolutionary Directorate.

     Almeida served as a vice-president of the Council of State, the country's supreme governing body, and headed the National Association of Veterans and Combatants of the Revolution. As well as his political activities, Almeida was a composer of traditional Cuban music and a writer. His books include the popular trilogy of reminiscences, Military Prison, Exile, and Disembarkation. He cut back on public activities in December 2003, suffering from heart problems, but remained a member of the country's leadership.

     Along with Ramiro Valdes and Guillermo Garcia, he had been among only three remaining Comandantes de la Revolucion, a title reserved for top leaders of rebel troops under Fidel Castro's command.

     A statement from the Cuban government called Juan Almeida "a paradigm of revolutionary strength, solid convictions, bravery, patriotism and service to the people." He was given a military funeral at a mausoleum near Santiago de Cuba.

     Fidel Castro wrote in one of his "Reflections" on Sept. 13, "I have been watching for hours now on television the tribute that the entire country is paying to Commander of the Revolution Juan Almeida Bosque. I think that facing death was for him just another duty as so many others he made throughout his life. He did not know, neither did we how much sadness the news of his physical absence would bring to us.

     "I was privileged to know that young black militant worker who would successively be the leader of a revolutionary group, a combatant at the Moncada, a comrade in prison, a platoon captain at the time of the Granma landing, an officer with the Rebel Army - held back by a shot on his chest during the violent combat at Uvero - the Commander of a column marching on to create the Third Eastern Front, and the comrade sharing the leadership of our forces in the last successful battles to overthrow the tyranny.

     "I was an exceptional witness to his exemplary conduct for over half a century of heroic and victorious resistance in the struggle against the bandits, during the Giron counteroffensive, the Missile Crisis, the internationalist missions and the resistance to the imperialist blockade.

     "It was a pleasure to listen to some of his songs, especially the one particularly emotional where he bade farewell to human dreams in response to the homeland's call to `win or die'. I was not aware that he had composed over 300 songs in addition to his literary work, a source of historical narratives and enjoyable readings. He defended principles of justice that will be defended at any time and age while human beings breathe on Earth.

     "Let's not say that Almeida is dead! Almeida lives today more than ever!"