Corps General
An army corps general or corps general is a rank held by a general officer who commands an army corps. The rank originates from the French Revolutionary System, and is used by a number of countries. Normally, the rank is above the divisional ge ...
Havana
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Republican Spaniards who escaped the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
. Later he moved to the city of
Santiago de Cuba
Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana.
The municipality extends over , and contains t ...
, where he spent part of his childhood and attended primary school.
While still a child, he collaborated with the
26th of July Movement
The 26 July Movement (; M-26-7) was a Cuban vanguard revolutionary organization and later a political party led by Fidel Castro. The movement's name commemorates the failed 1953 attack on the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba, part of an at ...
, joining at just 14 years of age the Forces of the II Eastern Front " Frank País" as a combatant during the
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...
. After the revolution, he served in the first Artillery units. In the 70s, he served in the
Angolan Civil War
The Angolan Civil War () was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. It was a power struggle between two for ...
, participating in combative actions in Catofe, Morros del Tongo, Santa Comba, Altohama, Tchipipa, Nova Lisboa, Catata, Caconda, Sa da Bandeira and Cahama. Upon his return, he was appointed Chief of Operations of the High Command's Reserve Artillery Brigade.
In 1977 he completed his second mission in the
Derg
The Derg or Dergue (, ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when they formally "Civil government, civilianized" the ...
of
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
. From 1982 to 1984, he studied at the General Staff Academy, at the end of which he began to work as Chief of General Troops. In 1987, he returned to the
People's Republic of Angola
The People's Republic of Angola () was the self-declared people's democratic state which governed Angola from its independence in 1975 until 25 August 1992, during the Angolan Civil War. It was led by the People's Movement for the Liberation ...
, to fulfill his third internationalist mission, this time as Chief of General Troops. Upon returning to Cuba, he was appointed Substitute Chief of Staff for the Chief of the Eastern Army until 1993, when he was promoted to Deputy Chief of the General Staff. In 1997, he replaced General Ulises Rosales del Toro as Chief of the General Staff. In 2001 he was promoted to the rank of Corps General. On April 15, 2021, Álvaro López Miera became the Minister of the FAR, replacing Leopoldo Cintra Frías.
Other information
He is a member of the
Communist Party of Cuba
The Communist Party of Cuba (, PCC) is the sole ruling party of Cuba. It was founded on 3 October 1965 as the successor to the United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution, which was in turn made up of the 26th of July Movement and Popu ...
National Assembly of People's Power
The National Assembly of People's Power () is the supreme organ of power of the Republic of Cuba. It is the only branch of government in the state, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs are subservient to it. It is currently ...
. He was decorated in
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
by the Russian Union of Veterans of Angola.
On 22 July 2021, López Miera was added to the United States' OFAC sanctions list.