Cuban ex-Rebel Commander, Dissident Huber Matos Dies

The former Cuban rebel commander Huber Matos, once one of Fidel Castro's closest comrades before eventually going against the communist leadership, died in Miami on Thursday. He was 95.

Matos, who was hospitalized Tuesday after a heart attack, asked doctors to turn off his breathing apparatus a day later, according to a statement issued by Independent and Democratic Cuba, the political party he led in exile.

He died early Thursday, it said, effectively closing a controversial chapter on Cuban history.

Having been pictured shoulder-to-shoulder alongside Castro at the climax of the 1959 revolution, Matos turned against the movement, later arguing that the leadership was both communist and dictatorial in its behavior.

After participating in the struggle against the government of Fulgencio Batista, Matos was named Commander of Rebel Forces in Cuba's Camaguey municipality. But he was eventually arrested on sedition charges and spent 20 years in jail before being released.

Matos then flew to Costa Rica, where his family was living, and from there he formed Independent and Democratic Cuba in 1980, a party with a socially democratic outlook. He later resettled in Miami.

There will be a wake for him in Miami on Sunday, but his body will then be taken to Costa Rica, explained the statement, which said Matos left a political will and letter to the Venezuelan people, though its details were not released.

Venezuela -- a close ally of Cuba -- is currently experiencing a wave of anti-government protests, provoked by public anger at high inflation, basic goods shortages, rising crime and corruption.

Cuba, now run by Fidel's brother Raul Castro, is the Americas' only one-party regime.