Corps General An army corps general or corps general is a rank held by a General officer who commands an army corps. The rank originates from the French (Revolutionary) System, and is used by a number of countries. Normally, the rank is above the divisional ...

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 Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

on December 26, 1943 into a family of progressive Republican Spaniards who escaped the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

. Later he moved to the city of

Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains t ...

, where he spent part of his childhood and attended primary school. While still a child, he collaborated with 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 ...

, joining at just 14 years of age the Forces of the II Eastern Front "

Frank País Frank País García (December 7, 1934 – July 30, 1957) was a Cuban revolutionary who campaigned for the overthrow of General Fulgencio Batista's government in Cuba. País was the urban coordinator of the 26th of July Movement, and was a key or ...

" as a combatant 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 ...

. After the revolution, he served in the first Artillery units. In the 70s, he served in the

Angolan Civil War The Angolan Civil War ( pt, Guerra Civil Angolana) was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war immediately began after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. The war was ...

, participating in combative actions in Catofe, Morros del Tongo, Santa Comba, Altohama, Tchipipa, Nova Lisboa, Catata, Caconda, Sa da Bandeira and Cahama. Upon his return, he was appointed Chief of Operations of the High Command's Reserve Artillery Brigade. In 1977 he completed his second mission in the

Derg The Derg (also spelled Dergue; , ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, then including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when the military leadership formally " c ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. From 1982 to 1984, he studied at the General Staff Academy, at the end of which he began to work as Chief of General Troops. In 1987, he returned to the

People's Republic of Angola The People's Republic of Angola () was the self-declared socialist state which governed Angola from its independence in 1975 until 25 August 1992, during the Angolan Civil War. History The regime was established in 1975, after Portuguese An ...

, to fulfill his third internationalist mission, this time as Chief of General Troops. Upon returning to Cuba, he was appointed Substitute Chief of Staff for the Chief of the Eastern Army until 1993, when he was promoted to Deputy Chief of the General Staff. In 1997, he replaced General Ulises Rosales del Toro as Chief of the General Staff. In 2001 he was promoted to the rank of Corps General. On April 15, 2021, Álvaro López Miera became the Minister of the FAR, replacing

Leopoldo Cintra Frías Leopoldo Cintra Frías is a Cuban military and political leader. Cintra was the former Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba. Military career He participated in the Cuban Revolution in November 1957 at the age of 16. His first act ...

Other information

He is a member of the

Communist Party of Cuba 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 26t ...

, being a delegate from the II Congress and being appointed to 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 Re ...

in 1997. He is a Deputy to 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 ...

. He was decorated in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

by the Russian Union of Veterans of Angola. On 22 July 2021, López Miera was added to the United States' OFAC sanctions list.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cintra Frías, Leopoldo 1943 births Living people Cuban generals Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union alumni People sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act Defense ministers of Cuba