Twenty-three senior Cuban military officers died within 12 months of rebel protest

The mystery surrounds the deaths of 23 senior officials within the Cuban Communist Party who have died since July 2021.

At the same time, protesters who participated in a groundbreaking anti-government protest last year are being tried in a politically distressed island nation.

And experts believe there is a connection between the events.

One of the most powerful men in the country is one of about 20 dead. General Luis Alberto Rodriguez Lopez Kaleha. He died of a heart attack on July 1st last week.

Not all analysts consider this a coincidence, but it is a sign of a “cleaning house” regime to restore order.

“The’sudden death’of General Luis Alberto Rodriguez Lopez Kaleja raises questions about the stability and durability of Cuban communist tyranny,” Dr. Orlando Gutierrez Boronato told The Epoch Times. rice field.

Boronat is an analyst and coordinator of the Cuban Resistance Democratization Coalition.

He states that of the deaths of 23 officers since July last year, there are several reasons why Kaleha is a good barometer within the Cuban administration.

The first was all its sudden nature: a deadly heart attack. Second, Kaleha was a symbol of power and continuity within the administration.

The US government has long known that Havana is free to use biological weapons that can cause health complications.The scope and possible applications were discussed in detail in 2002. Senate hearing..

At a hearing of the Foreign Affairs Commission that year, former Assistant Secretary of State Karl Ford said he believed that Cuba had at least limited offensive biological weapons research and development efforts.

Calleja served as the right arm and adviser to the current President Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel.

At one point, the general married Raul Castro’s daughter and was also the executive president of the Revolutionary Army’s Business Administration Group.

Boronato claims that Kaleha was the true power within the communist government, saying that he ran a “state within the nation.”

“His death may be more important than Raul Castro’s death.”

It is unclear whether Calleja’s death was due to a natural cause or a more sinister cause. However, a pattern emerged in the wake of last year’s national anti-government protests.

On July 11, 2021, the largest anti-communist demonstration in decades ignited and spread nationwide like a wildfire.

Diaz-Canel accused the protesters of being “mercenaries” and deployed an armed response to heel the opposition.

Police and soldiers were in a hurry to stop the flow of the new revolution. They sought to identify organizers and group leaders who were quickly arrested and continue to face trials, torture, and long-term imprisonment to this day.

However, just seven days after Cuban troops struggled to extinguish the flames of the rebellion, Commander Agustin Penapores, 58, died on July 18, 2021.

Two generals, including Brigadier General Manuel Eduardo Rustress Pacheco and Brigadier General Armand Choi Rodriguez, also died on the same day.

They both died on July 26th.

All of the first six were reportedly cremated shortly after death, with no autopsy or funeral arrangements. The Cuban government has also withheld details about the cause of death.

This was repeated a few months later, on the same day on September 30, when two more Communist generals died.

The administration refused to explain or provide further details to the public.

Overall, four officers have died in August, six in September, two in October, and one in December since the protest on July 11. Within 60 days of the historic July demonstration, 16 military officers were killed, the highest number.

“I suspect that criticism of the administration’s response to the July 11 protest may have caused an internal purge,” Boronato said.

In 2022, four more Cuban generals died, including one military general each month in February, March, June, and July.

Regarding Calleja’s death, the heart of the Communist Party leadership broke the silence.

“The revolutionary left us, the man who served all the trenches in our homeland and the revolution,” Diaz Cannell posted on his Twitter account.

Some experts attribute the sudden withdrawal of old Cuban guards to the devastating impact of COVID-19 on the country.

To date, more than 1 million cases of this virus have been reported in small island developing states, killing 8,529 people. according to For World Health Organization data.