José Ramón Machado Ventura, M.D. (born 26 October 1930) is a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the First Vice President of the

Council of State of Cuba The Council of State () of Cuba is a 31-member body of the government of Cuba, elected by the National Assembly of People's Power. It has the authority to exercise most legislative power between sessions of the National Assembly of People's Powe ...

from 2008 to 2013. With the election of

Raúl Castro Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz (; ; born 3 June 1931) is a retired Cuban politician and general who served as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most senior position in the one-party communist state, from 2011 to 2021, succeed ...

President of Cuba The president of Cuba ( es, Presidente de Cuba), officially the president of the Republic of Cuba ( es, Presidente de la República de Cuba), is the head of state of Cuba. The office in its current form was established under the Constitution of ...

on 24 February 2008, Machado was elected to succeed him as First Vice President, serving until 2013. He was elected

Second Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba ( es, Primer Secretario del Comité Central del Partido Comunista de Cuba) is the ''de facto'' leader of Cuba. The First Secretary is the highest office within the Commu ...

in 2011.

Biography

Early life

José Ramón Machado was born in

San Antonio de las Vueltas San Antonio de las Vueltas, also known as Vueltas, is a village and ''consejo popular'' ("people's council", i.e. hamlet) in central northern Cuba, belonging to the municipality of Camajuaní, Villa Clara Province. With a population of 13,805 it is ...

, in the former province of

Las Villas Las Villas is a natural region and ''comarca'' in Andalusia, southern Spain. It is located in the mountainous area at the eastern end of Jaén Province. The main town is Villacarrillo. Together with the Sierra de Cazorla and Sierra de Segura ...

, and was schooled in

Camajuaní Camajuaní is a municipality and town in the Villa Clara Province of Cuba. History In 1819 was decided the construction of a new port in near Caibarién to replace an old one located in Tesisco. From that moment, settlers established in the ...

and Remedios. He is a medical doctor by profession, graduating 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 firs ...

in 1953. Machado joined the

revolutionary movement A revolutionary movement (or revolutionary social movement) is a specific type of social movement dedicated to carrying out a revolution. Charles Tilly defines it as "a social movement advancing exclusive competing claims to control of the stat ...

immediately following

Fulgencio Batista Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (; ; born Rubén Zaldívar, January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who served as the elected president of Cuba from 1940 to 1944 and as its U.S.-backed military dictator ...

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, ...

of 10 March 1952, while still a medical student, and was an early member of 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 ...

opposing the dictatorship. Later, under the command first of

Ernesto "Che" Guevara Ernesto Che Guevara (; 14 June 1928The date of birth recorded on /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ernesto_Guevara_Acta_de_Nacimiento.jpg his birth certificatewas 14 June 1928, although one tertiary source, (Julia Constenla, quoted ...

and subsequently of

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 2 ...

, he was one of the original revolutionaries who fought the guerrilla war 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 ...

. In 1958, promoted to the rank of captain, he was sent to the province of Oriente under the command of Raúl Castro as part of the rebels' bid to open up a second front. There he was placed in charge of the guerrillas' medical service, establishing a network of hospitals and dispensaries, and was promoted to the rank of major "''comandante''" (top rank on Castro's rebel army).

After the Cuban Revolution

Following the revolutionaries' victory on 1 January 1959, he was appointed the director of medical services in Havana and later served as the national

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

from 1960 to 1967, during which time he was responsible for the development of the country's

health sector Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

. In January 1968, reportedly in the aftermath of a personal conflict with Fidel Castro over the running of the health sector, he was appointed to serve as the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contractio ...

's delegate in the province of

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 ...

. He remained in Matanzas until mid-1971; his administration of the province's economy and health sector was successful, particularly in terms of crop outputs, public transport and reduced infant mortality. Upon leaving Matanzas in 1971, he was appointed first secretary of the

Cuban Communist Party The Communist Party of Cuba ( es, Partido Comunista de 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 ...

in the

province of Havana La Habana Province , formerly known as Ciudad de La Habana Province, is a province of Cuba that includes the territory of the city of Havana, the Republic's capital. Between 1878 and 2010, the name referred to another province that covered a m ...

and was elected to the Politburo in December 1975. He is a member of the

National Assembly of People's Power The National Assembly of People's Power ( es, Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular) is the unicameral parliament of the Republic of Cuba. It is currently composed of 605 representatives who are elected from multi-member electoral districts for a ...

, representing the municipality of

Guantánamo Guantánamo (, , ) is a municipality and city in southeast Cuba and capital of Guantánamo Province. Guantánamo is served by the Caimanera port near the site of a U.S. naval base. The area produces sugarcane and cotton wool. These are tradition ...

. In 2006, he became responsible for overseeing Cuba's international education programs. José Ramón Machado has been described as "a hardline communist ideologue and old guard revolutionary." On 10 January 2007, he represented Cuba at the inauguration of

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean Sea, Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to ...

n President

Daniel Ortega José Daniel Ortega Saavedra (; born 11 November 1945) is a Nicaraguan revolutionary and politician serving as President of Nicaragua since 2007. Previously he was leader of Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, first as coordinator of the Junta of Na ...

. Machado was elected by the National Assembly of People's Power as First Vice-President of the Council of State on 24 February 2008, at the same time as Raúl Castro's election as President. On 19 April 2021, Machado retired from the

Politburo of the Communist Party of Cuba The Politburo of the Communist Party of Cuba is an organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba. History The Politburo of the Central Committee was established on 3 October 1965 when the United Party of the Cuban Socialist Rev ...

following the

8th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

. The party's national newspaper '' Granma'' wrote on April 21, 2021 that Machado will accompany the new generation in transit to assume their responsibilities. The position of Second Secretary has been abolished.

References

External links

GlobalSecurity.org

Biography by CIDOB
(in Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Machado Ventura, Jose Ramon 1930 births Living people People from Camajuaní Communist Party of Cuba politicians Vice presidents of Cuba Health ministers of Cuba Members of the National Assembly of People's Power Cuban Marxists Cuban revolutionaries People of the Cuban Revolution