“Fernandez is, without the slightest exaggeration, one of those exceptional beings. His sense of duty and ethical conscience were an infallible compass in each of his actions,” Machado Venturasaid before President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez; First Vice President Salvador Valdés Mesa; Comandantes de la Revolución Ramiro Valdés Menéndez and Guillermo García Frías; and Esteban Lazo, National Assembly President; along with other members of the Political Bureau, mass organizations, and the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR).

Among his personal characteristics, Machado Ventura highlighted the Gallego’s firmness in rejecting greed, selfishness, and competition among those who sought to ascend in a military environment under Batista’s corrupt government and dictatorship, recalling that he devoted himself wholeheartedly to the tasks of the Revolution, given the confidence inspired by Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro Ruz and the social project to be built after 1959.”With tenacity, discipline, intelligence, effort, and results, he avoided the many obstacles he faced again and again, given his firm decision not to accept unprincipled proposals and to be guided only by his conscience,” Machado Ventura emphasized, speaking before those paying tribute to Fernándezat the cemetery, among them many FAR cadets and students from military academies.

Also present was Asela de los Santos, his eternal companion and colleague in leadership tasks, along with high performance athletes and sports legends, family and friends. Floral wreaths were sent by Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, PCC first secretary, various institutions, and the diplomatic missions of sister countries, while many of the decorated Hero of the Republic’s medals and distinctions were displayed.

Machado Ventura concluded his comments with a quote from a book that will be published soon containing Fernandez’s main experiences, and stated, “Thanks for the example you leave us! All who knew you and our entire people will remember and admire you forever, dear compañero Fernández. ”

(Granma)

Familiarly known as “El Gallego Fernández,” he was born November 4, 1923, in Santiago de Cuba. From a young age he participated in the revolutionary struggle against the Batista dictatorship, in conspiratorial movements with different military and political groups. He was imprisoned for almost three years on the Isle of Pines for these activities.

With the triumph of the Revolution, he joined the Revolutionary Armed Forces, participated in the fight against counterrevolutionary bandits, as well as in the direction of the battles in Playa Girón, under the orders of the Comandante en Jefe of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz.

Fernández held different responsibilities within the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, including director of the Rebel Army Cadet School, the School of Militia Officers of Matanzas, and the Militia Battalion Schools of the province of Havana, and was head of the Combative Training Directorate and FAR deputy minister.

He also served as deputy minister and minister of Education, as a vice president of the Council of Ministers, and as advisor to the President of the Councils of State and Ministers. He presided the Cuban Olympic Committee from 1997 to October 2018, the year in which he was elected as its Honorary Life President.

He was a Founder of the Communist Party of Cuba, a member of its Central Committee since the First Party Congress in 1975, and was an alternate member of the Political Bureau from 1980 to 1991.
He was also a deputy to the National Assembly of People’s Power from its constitution in 1976, and member of the Council of State between 1981 and 1993.

Bachelor of Social Sciences and Professor of Merit of the Enrique José Varona Pedagogical University, he was awarded honorary doctorates in Education from the University of Havana; in Military Sciences from the General Máximo Gómez FAR Academy; and in Physical Culture and Sports Sciences from the University of Physical Culture and Sports Sciences; as well as the PhD in Historical Sciences from the University of Oriente.

Fernández received numerous orders, medals and awards. In 2001, he was awarded the honorary title of Hero of the Republic of Cuba.
His final resting place will be the Frank País Second Eastern Front Mausoleum, Holguín.

(Granma)