Havana : Harry Villegas or Pombo, who served in the guerilla force commanded by the iconic Argentine-born revolutionary leader Che Guevara, died in Havana on Sunday. He was 81.
Villegas fought alongside Guevara for Cuba in Congo in 1995 and then in Bolivia between 1966 and 1967 where Guevara met his martyrdom. On returning to Cuba in 1968, Villegas held senior military posts and served in two military missions during the Angolan civil war, that lasted from 1975 to 1991. A retired brigadier general, Villegas had received the honorary title of Hero of the Republic of Cuba.
The end came from multiple organ failure, said the state media, which also celebrated Villegas’s boundless commitment to the regime and his loyalty to longtime President Fidel Castro.
