FILE - Jose Ramon Balaguer, Cuban head of the Department of International Relations and Ideology of the Communist Party, speaks during the opening of the Sao Paulo Forum in Antigua City, Guatemala, 45 kilometers west from Guatemala City, on Dec. 2, 2002. Balaguer, a longtime member of Cuba’s communist leadership who as health minister sent thousands of the island’s doctors on missions to win hearts and minds in Venezuela and developing countries around the world, has died at age 90. An official statement read over state television late Friday, July 15, 2022, reported the death, though no cause was given. (AP Photo/Jaime Puebla, File) (JAIME PUEBLA, Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
HAVANA – A longtime member of Cuba’s communist leadership has died at age 90.
José Ramón Balaguer was a part of Fidel Castro’s forces as they toppled dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959 and went on to hold a series of important posts in the Communist Party and government.
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He had served as the party’s ideology chief, was the island’s last ambassador to the Soviet Union and as health minister sent thousands of doctors on missions to win hearts and minds in developing countries around the world.
The government reported his death late Friday.
Copyright 2022 by The Associated Press - All rights reserved.
