Efigenio Ameijeiras Delgado (September 21, 1931 – February 10, 2020) was a Cuban military commander affiliated with

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 ...

from the 1950s. Son of Manuel Ameijeiras Fontelo, a native of

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a Spanish city in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. It is the capital of both the ''Comarca'' (County) and Province of Pontevedra, and of the Rías Baixas in Galicia. It is also the capital of its own municipality whi ...

(

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

) and the Cuban María de las Angustias Delgado Romo, from Corral Falso, in

Matanzas Matanzas (Cuban ) is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas. Known for its poets, culture, and Afro-Cuban folklore, it is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Matanzas (Spanish ''Bahia de Matanzas''), east ...

. At the age of four, his father disappeared, so his mother had to take care of her children alone.

Biography

Ameijeiras was born in September 1931. A self-declared anti-communist, he was one of the band of Castro's active guerrillas that became known as the

26th of July Movement The 26th of July Movement ( es, Movimiento 26 de Julio; M-26-7) was a Cuban vanguard revolutionary organization and later a political party led by Fidel Castro. The movement's name commemorates its 26 July 1953 attack on the army barracks on San ...

, named after the raid on

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 ...

on 26 July 1953, though he is not mentioned as one of the participants. One of his brothers, Juan Manuel Ameijeiras, was one of the assailants at the Moncada Barracks and was assassinated shortly after. He was the founder of the first clandestine cell of the July 26 Movement. Granma Expeditionary, Second Chief of the

Frank Pais Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curre ...

Front and Commander of the Revolution. Himself is reported to have been gaoled in 1955 on 'moral charges', with an alias of 'Jomeguia'. In December 1956, he was among 82 of Castro's guerrillas on board the yacht Granma that sailed from

Tuxpan, Mexico Tuxpan (or Túxpam, fully Túxpam de Rodríguez Cano) is both a municipality and city located in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The population of the city was 78,523 and of the municipality was 134,394 inhabitants, according to the INEGI census ...

to Punta de las Coloradas, in

Oriente Province Oriente (, "East") was the easternmost province of Cuba until 1976. The term "Oriente" is still used to refer to the eastern part of the country, which currently is divided into five different provinces. Fidel and Raúl Castro were born in a sm ...

, Cuba. He fought with the guerillas in the

Sierra Maestra The Sierra Maestra is a mountain range that runs westward across the south of the old Oriente Province in southeast Cuba, rising abruptly from the coast. The range falls mainly within the Santiago de Cuba and in Granma Provinces. Some view it a ...

, and took part in an attack on El Uvero barracks on 28 May 1957. In 1958 he served as the leader of Company B of the guerrillas in Guantanamo Province. After the revolution on 1 January 1959, he served as the Head of the National Revolutionary Police. On 15 April 1961, in response to the air attacks by CIA/

Brigade 2506 Brigade 2506 (Brigada Asalto 2506) was a CIA-sponsored group of Cuban exiles formed in 1960 to attempt the military overthrow of the Cuban government headed by Fidel Castro. It carried out the abortive Bay of Pigs Invasion landings in Cuba on 17 ...

Douglas

B-26 Invader The Douglas A-26 Invader (designated B-26 between 1948 and 1965) is an American twin-engined light bomber and ground attack aircraft. Built by Douglas Aircraft Company during World War II, the Invader also saw service during several major Col ...

aircraft on Cuban airfields, he led the round-up and detention and execution of thousands of suspected opponents to the Cuban government. During the

Bay of Pigs Invasion The Bay of Pigs Invasion (, sometimes called ''Invasión de Playa Girón'' or ''Batalla de Playa Girón'' after the Playa Girón) was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in 1961 by Cuban exiles, covertly fina ...

, on 19 April 1961, he commanded a battalion of about 200 police and militia moving south towards Giron, that was attacked by Brigade B-26s. His narratives of fighting and arrival at Playa Giron are widely quoted. He later served in the Cuban Army with the ranks of Major General and Brigadier General. From 1963-64 he commanded the Cuban contingent sent to aid Algeria during its border war with Morocco. In 1966 he was expelled from the new Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), for alleged 'moral offences'. Graduated in History from the

University of Havana The University of Havana or (UH, ''Universidad de La Habana'') is a university located in the Vedado district of Havana, the capital of the Republic of Cuba. Founded on January 5, 1728, the university is the oldest in Cuba, and one of the first ...

, he was the author of the trilogy Beyond us (together with the volumes La clandestinidad and La

). He was awarded the title of

Hero of the Republic of Cuba The honorary title Hero of the Republic of Cuba ( es, Héroe de la República de Cuba) is the highest decoration awarded by the Republic of Cuba. It is equivalent to other hero titles common in the Socialist Bloc. The decoration is physically rep ...

in 2001. He died of

sepsis Sepsis, formerly known as septicemia (septicaemia in British English) or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage is follo ...

in February 2020 at the age of 88. After the cremation, his ashes were exposed on February 11 in the Veterans Pantheon of the

Colon Cemetery, Havana El Cementerio de Cristóbal Colón, also called La Necrópolis de Cristóbal Colón, was founded in 1876 in the Vedado neighbourhood of Havana, Cuba to replace the Espada Cemetery in the Barrio de San Lázaro. Named for Christopher Columbus, ...

References and notes

Bibliography

* Ameijeiras, Efigenio. Beyond Us (trilogy, along with volumes Secrecy and The Sierra Maestra) * Escalante, Fabian. 1993. Cuba: La guerra secreta de la CIA.(in Spanish). * Escalante, Fabian. 1995. The Secret War: CIA Covert Operations Against Cuba, 1959-1962. Translation of "La guerra secreta de la CIA" (1993) by Maxine Shaw and edited by Mirta Muniz. Melbourne, Australia: Ocean Press. * Franqui, Carlos. 1984. Family Portrait with Fidel. 1985 edition Random House First Vintage Books, New York. * Rodriguez, Juan Carlos. 1999. Bay of Pigs and the CIA. Ocean Press Melbourne. * Thomas, Hugh. 1971, 1986. ''The Cuban Revolution''. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. London. (Shortened version of ''Cuba: The Pursuit of Freedom'', includes all history 1952-1970) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ameijeiras, Efigenio 1931 births 2020 deaths People from Puerto Padre Cuban people of Galician descent Cuban soldiers Cuban revolutionaries People of the Cuban Revolution Deaths from sepsis