The newly named chief of Cuba’s Western Army (strategically far more important than Central and Eastern Army), Division General Lucio Morales Abad, replaced Army Corps General Leopoldo Cintra Frias, who is now “number two” in the defense ministry after General Julio Casas Regueiro.

What is known so far about General Morales Abad, per Cuban media:

• Chief, General Staff, Western Army;
• four decade service to the military;
• different command levels in artillery and tank units

A Google search of web sites in Cuba for further biographical information about Morales Abad yielded very little (majority of hits were announcing his appointment), however, what is also known is that he is a Raulista and was chosen for this command because he is loyal acolyte of Army General Raul Castro.

Is his designation merited competence in command leadership or solely based on loyalty?

Promotions within the Cuban armed forces in the past have been based on loyalty as opposed to military professionalism and rising through the ranks.

Lone Wolf?

The remaining general appointed by Fidel Castro is Army Corps General Ramon Espinosa Martin.  What will become of Espinosa Martin, who hasn’t always seen eye to eye with Raul Castro.

Will he remain as chief of the Eastern Army or replaced with a Raulista acolyte?  We await to see.

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Generals Cintra Frias (r) and Morales Abad (l) sign the official act authorizing the change of command. (Photo: Granma)

Cuban media reports Army Corps General Leopoldo “Polo” Cintra Frías has been designated First Vice-Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces. General Cintra Frías served as Chief of the Western Army since 1991 when he took again command after returning from his forth tour of Angola and is being replaced by Division General Lucio Morales Abad, who served as Chief of the Army General Staff. General Morales Abad, according to the report, has a four decade long service to the military in different levels of command in artillery and tank units.

Presiding over the change of command ceremony was Army General Raul Castro.

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The change in command of the Central Army, which took place at the end of May with an unknown military figure, raises speculation General Raul Castro is shoring up his group of generals loyal to him and the military regime under his control.

Division General Raúl Rodríguez Lobaina who replaced Army Corps General Joaquín Quintas Solá (serving as the Central Army’s chief for over 20 years) is a virtual unknown even though he has 40 years of military service as announced by the Cuban government.

A thorough search through Cuban media yields very little biographical information about Rodríguez Lobaina who is of African descent.

The only public source about the general appears in a communique dated February 25, 2006 from the Cuban Federation of Radioafcionados website announcing the attendance at the time of Brigadier General Rodríguez Lobaina (then Chief of Matanzas Military Region) at a provincial political ceremony celebrating Radioaficionado Day.

Moreover, there are no photos of Rodríguez Lobaina in official acts/ceremonies in Cuba’s media except for the following photo, where his face is not visible, which was published in Granma during a military ceremony honoring the change of command.

Why did General Castro appoint a general who served under the command of the all important Western Army to be chief of the Central Army and not promote within the Central Army?  Could it be that there is concern from Raul himself and his generals about avoiding any fissure within the perceived “monolithic” hierarchy of the military.

Army Corps General Joaquín Quintas Solá has been dispatched to a bureaucratic desk job in the MINFAR.  Quintas Solá was appointed by Fidel Castro and along with his counterpart in the Eastern Army, Army Corps General Ramon Espinosa Martin are viewed as not meeting eye-to-eye with former Defense Minister Raul Castro.

The seat of power for the Castro regime has always been the capital. And the battle to sustain control of the streets will be played out in the capital.

The Central Army’s proximity to Havana plays heavy to what-if scenarios in the hierarchy of the military.

What would happen if the chief of the Central Army’s was to mutiny along with his staff and target their troops and tanks to take control of the capital in a fissure of command once Fidel Castro dies?

Stability and control is far easier to maintain when loyal acolytes are in command of key positions of a potential rival army and its threat of geographic proximity to the base of power — Havana.

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