Alberto Roberto del Rio Chaviano was a

Cuban Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a perso ...

brigadier general who served on the side of, and during Fulgencio Batista's dictatorship of Cuba. He was the chief colonel of the

Moncada Barracks The Moncada Barracks was a military barracks in Santiago de Cuba, named after General Guillermo Moncada, a hero of the Cuban War of Independence. On 26 July 1953, the barracks was the site of an armed attack by a small group of revolutionaries ...

when

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

and his group attacked the barracks on July 26, 1953. He had an essential role to play in the military during

Operation Verano Operation Verano (, "Operation Summer") was the name given to the summer offensive in 1958 by the Batista government during the Cuban Revolution, known to the rebels as ''La Ofensiva''. The offensive was designed to crush Fidel Castro's revolutio ...

. He played an important role in the defense of the Batista regime during the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in cou ...

. During the dictatorship of Batista, he was put in charge of the

Cuban Army The Cuban Revolutionary Army ( es, Ejército Revolucionario) serve as the ground forces of Cuba. Formed in 1868 during the Ten Years' War, it was originally known as the Cuban Constitutional Army. Following the Cuban Revolution, the revolutiona ...

in the region of Oriente in which

Raul Castro Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul. Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...

's guerrilla unit operated, and later in the province of Las Villas Four days before the Batista government stepped down on January 1st, 1959, he emigrated to

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

and later to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1963 where he was a teacher. He died of cancer in the United States in 1978.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rio Chaviano, Alberto del 1915 births 1978 deaths People from Villa Clara Province Cuban people of Spanish descent Cuban military personnel Cuban anti-communists People of the Cuban Revolution Exiles of the Cuban Revolution in the United States