José Quevedo Pérez
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José Quevedo Pérez (1 August 1925 – 20 April 2011) was a Cuban soldier, commanding officer, and rebel, who served in the Cuban Constitutional Army,
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 ...
, and
Cuban Revolutionary Army The Cuban Revolutionary Army () 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 revolutionary military forces was recon ...
.


Early life

Born in Havana, Cuba on 1 August 1925, José Quevedo Pérez grew up in a military environment, since his father served as an officer in the constitutional army until 1945 when he retired at the rank of
Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
. In 1943, then eighteen year old Quevedo Pérez applied to El Morro Academy, from which he graduated three years later in 1946 with the rank of
first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a se ...
. By then he had also finished the first year of law school at the
University of Havana The University of Havana (UH; ) is a public university located in the Vedado district of Havana, the capital of Cuba. Founded on 5 January 1728, the university is the oldest in Cuba, and one of the first to be founded in the Americas. Originall ...
, where he first met
Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...
.


Military career


Cuban Constitutional Army

Quevedo Pérez did not take part in the
coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
on March 10, 1952, that installed
Fulgencio Batista Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (born Rubén Zaldívar; January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who played a dominant role in Cuban politics from his initial rise to power as part of the 1933 Revolt of t ...
as the new
President of Cuba The president of Cuba (), officially the president of the Republic of Cuba (), is the head of state of Cuba. The office in its current form was established under the Constitution of 2019. The President is the second-highest office in Cuba and ...
and began his dictatorship. Quevedo Pérez was visiting the
United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...
at
West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York (state), New York, General George Washington stationed his headquarters in West Point in the summer and fall of 1779 durin ...
during the coup d'état. Upon his return to Cuba he was appointed Chief of the San Ambrosio Barracks, the main supply base for the Constitutional Armed Forces. He was appointed to that position because he specialized in logistics as the result of a course he took in
Fort Eustis Fort Eustis is a United States Army installation in Newport News, Virginia. In 2010, it was combined with nearby Langley Air Force Base to form Joint Base Langley–Eustis. The post is the home to the United States Army Training and Doctrin ...
,
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, in the Military Transportation Academy. In those years he also worked as a professor at the Higher War School, located in the Castillo de Atarés. Because of his prestige and leadership within the army, he was assigned to lead troops 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 ...
the Cuban military offensive against 26 July Movement rebels in the summer of 1958. Then Major Quevedo Pérez commanded the 18th Battalion, which was surrounded and decimated by the rebels during the
Battle of La Plata A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
. After ten days of heavy fighting and stubborn resistance, he held talks with 26 July Movement comandante Fidel Castro and decided to switch sides and become a 26 July Movement rebel himself. "I never thought that the Rebel Army could defeat us, no matter how well it was prepared" Quevedo Pérez confessed years later. This dealt a demoralizing blow to the army and the regime of Fulgencio Batista.


26th of July Movement & Cuban Revolutionary Army

As a trained army officer, Quevedo Perez advised the rebels of the 26th of July Movement, although he asked not to confront his colleagues that were still serving in the Constitutional Army. In a letter written in December 1958, Fidel Castro referred to Quevedo Perez as “one of the most respectable and honorable commanders of the constitutional Army” and a “spontaneous and legitimate standard bearer” of the revolutionary cause. After the
Triumph of the Revolution The Triumph of the Revolution is the historical term for the flight of Fulgencio Batista on January 1, 1959, and the capture of Havana by the 26th of July Movement on January 8. The flight of Fulgencio Batista from Cuba, is marked by an offic ...
on January 1st, 1959, he became an officer in the newly established Cuban Revolutionary Army and was appointed as the first Cuban
military attaché A military attaché or defence attaché (DA),Defence Attachés
''Geneva C ...
to the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. In 1994 he was promoted to Brigadier General by
Raúl Castro Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz ( ; ; born 3 June 1931) is a Cuban retired politician and general who served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most senior position in the One-par ...
.


Later life and death

After Retiring as a Brigadier General in the Cuban Revolutionary Army, Quevedo Pérez went to
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
in November 2003 to visit a son sick with
cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...
who died days after his arrival. He then decided to remain in the
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and stayed away from public life until mid-2006, when he made presentations at schools and appeared on television in Miami, distancing himself from the Cuban communist regime. Quevedo Pérez died at his home in southwest Miami on 20 April 2011 around 3 p.m. of a
Heart Attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
at the age of 85 years old. In the morning he had attended a medical check-up with satisfactory results, according to his son, Roberto Quevedo Pérez. He is survived by his wife Berta Montesinos, then 77, and his children Roberto and Katia, in Miami, and in Cuba by his daughter Susana Quevedo.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quevedo Perez, Jose 1925 births 2011 deaths Cuban anti-communists Cuban military personnel Cuban generals Cuban soldiers Military personnel from Havana University of Havana alumni Cuban emigrants to the United States