14ymedio, Havana, 29 July 2021 — Gilberto Antonio Cardero Sánchez is the sixth military man to die in Cuba in less than two weeks. The national television news program confirmed this Wednesday the death of this “Rebel Army fighter” who came to occupy the position of commander. Before him, five generals died in nine days, after the protests on July 11, and without the authorities having detailed the causes of the deaths.
Like the five deceased soldiers, the body of Cardero Sánchez was cremated and, according to a note from the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, “his ashes deposited in the veterans’ pantheon of the Necropolis of Colón, where they will remain until their subsequent transfer to the mausoleum of the Frank País Second Eastern Front in the province of Santiago de Cuba.” The text does not specify t Cardero Sánchez’s military rank or his age.
In May 1957, Cardero Sánchez participated in the clandestine struggle and joined Column 1 of the Rebel Army under the orders of Fidel Castro. He founded the Frank País Second Eastern Front under the orders of Raúl Castro, “where he remained until the triumph of the Revolution,” says the Ministry’s statement.
In the Revolutionary Armed Forces he was in the units dedicated to the construction of works for defense. He does not seem to have had a prominent role as he does not have a profile on Ecured, where he is only mentioned in passing due to a slight injury he suffered in 1958 when he was captain of the Rebel Army.
On July 17, a week after the start of the 11J (11 July) demonstrations, the head of the Eastern Cuban Army, General Agustín Peña, 58, died. On the 20th, Reserve Brigadier General Marcelo Verdecia Perdomo died and on Saturday 24th, Reserve Major General Rubén Martínez Puente, identified as the soldier who ordered the downing of the Brothers to the Rescue planes.
Finally, this Monday 26, Reserve General Manuel Eduardo Lastres Pacheco died and the Central University of Las Villas Marta Abreu gave the news of the death of FAR Brigadier General Armando Choy Rodríguez.
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