This is the second Cuban to receive this recognition, as Cuban Brigadier General Rafael Moracen Limonta was previously posthumously awarded with the Peace and Development Class medal among the first group of 148 people to receive it.
General Moracen, a Hero of the Republic of Cuba, received Angolan nationality in 2014 for his contribution to that country’s independence, a service record in which he highlighted the military training he provided to those fighting Portuguese colonialism.
Meanwhile, Army Corps General Cintra Frias, who served as Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba from 2011 to 2021, served on an internationalist mission in Angola at various times and led decisive combat actions for the preservation of the country’s independence and integrity.
He served as Commander of the Southern Front of the Southern Troop Group during the confrontation with the South African Army’s invasion in 1975–1976 and assumed command of the Cuban Military Mission in the African nation on two occasions.
Among the military actions in which he participated were the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale and the Southwestern Front offensive in Angola.
He holds the honorary title of Hero of the Republic of Cuba, and according to the local press, granting him the decoration is a fair recognition not only of his contributions to the Angolan cause, but also of those of the Caribbean nation’s people to Angola’s independence and sovereignty.
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