Leopoldo Cintra Frías (born 17 July 1941) is a retired Cuban military officer and political leader. Cintra was the former Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba.

Military career

He participated in 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 ...

in November 1957 at the age of 16. His first actions were to sell bonds, distribute bread in a van, and transport people to the mountains. He later joined the Column 1 José Martí, which was commanded by

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 ...

, where he remained until the end of the revolution. He accompanied Fidel Castro on his journey from the

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. The origins of Oriente lie in the 1607 di ...

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.Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

(

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

) to study Artillery in 1960. Upon his return to Cuba, he was appointed head of the artillery and infantry units in the FAR. He finished his studies at the Superior Basic School in 1962 and passed the Superior Academic Course in 1967. Cintra led a large unit of Cuban tanks in

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

and

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 ...

in the late 1970s and in the early 1980s. He graduated in 1982 from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR. In 1990, he was appointed the Chief of the Western Army, one of the three regional districts of the FAR. Upon his return to Cuba, he continued lead of the Western Army. In 2001, he was promoted to the rank of Corps General. In October 2008, Cintra held the position of First Deputy Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces. President

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 ...

promoted him to the post of Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces on November 9, 2011, following the death of General

Julio Casas Regueiro Corps General Julio Casas Regueiro (February 18, 1936 – September 3, 2011) was a Cuban politician. He was a vice-president of the Council of State of Cuba, Council of State and the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (Cuba), minister of d ...

. On April 15, 2021, Cintra departed as Minister of the FAR and was replaced with his Chief of Staff

Álvaro López Miera Corps General Álvaro López Miera is a Cuban military and political leader and has served as the Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba since 15 April 2021. Military career He was born in the City of Havana on December 26, 1943 in ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cintra Frías, Leopoldo 1941 births Living people People from Yara, Cuba Communist Party of Cuba politicians Defense ministers of Cuba Members of the National Assembly of People's Power Cuban generals Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union alumni People of the Cuban Revolution Cuban military personnel of the Angolan Civil War Hero of the Republic of Cuba

Military career

See also

References