Antonio Enrique Lussón Batlle (1930 – 21 September 2022) was a Cuban military officer and one of four Vice Presidents of the

Council of Ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...

Biography

Batlle was born in

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 ...

to a financially stable family. and he obtained a good education, but he was not able to finish high school due to economic problems. He then worked as a farmer, a "pequeño colono," a truck driver, and a peddler. He was a member of the Partido Ortodoxo and after Batista's military coup, he engaged in underground activities in the Organización Auténtica (OA). He left the organization later and joined the MR-26 July. He joined the guerrillas, as a sergeant, under the command of

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 ...

. Considered an excellent tactician with exceptional personal courage, in less than six months he became a comandante and was entrusted with one independent guerrilla column that had one of the best fighting records until December 1958. He was second-in-command to Juan Almeida in 1959 at Managua Garrison and for several months was the Chief of Logistics. He also distinguished himself at

Bay of Pigs Invasion The Bay of Pigs Invasion (, sometimes called or after the Playa Girón) was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in April 1961 by the United States of America and the Cuban Democratic Revolutionary Front ...

. For most of the 1960s, he was chief of the Western Independent Army Corps. His military education consists of two courses: Officers Basic Training and a Higher Course at El Morro Academy (predecessor to the current "Máximo Gómez" Academy). He was Minister of Transportation, Merchant Marine, and Ports from 1970 to 1980. The first five years of his administration were considered successful, with major projects and investments, but by the late 1970s public transportation was in the same condition as in the late 1960s.

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 ...

, frustrated with his performance, ousted him and sent him to the Youth Labor Army (Ejército Juvenil del Trabajo or EJT) to command Camaguey's army corps. Two years later, he was sent to Angola for the first time. He spent seven years in Angola. From 1982 to 1985 as top commander of LCB forces against

UNITA The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (, abbr. UNITA) is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought alongside the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the National Liberat ...

and from 1986 to 1989 as military commander of Luena Province. Batlle was Vice President of INRE from 1990 to 1996. He is the Division General and Chief of the Special Forces Directorate of the

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 ...

since 1998. Extensively decorated, he is considered a Hero of the Republic of Cuba. Batlle died on 21 September 2022, at the age of 92.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Batlle, Antonio 1930 births 2022 deaths Cuban soldiers Cuban military personnel of the Angolan Civil War People from Santiago de Cuba