Havana, January 6 (RHC)--  Hero of the Republic of Cuba Jose Ramon Fernandez Alvarez died on Sunday in the early hours of the morning, local media reported. He was 95.

Fernandez, under the leadership of Fidel Castro, played a very important role at repelling the exile Bay of Pigs invasion supported by the United States in April of 1961.

He joined the Cuban military in the 1940s and received training in the United States. He joined the opposition to the Batista dictatorship in the 1950s but was caught and imprisoned in 1956.  He remained behind bars until the triumph of the revolution in 1959.

Fernandez was soon put in charge of training the country's civilian militia due to his military background.  He was named commandant in 1961 and brigade general of the reserve in 1966.

He served throughout the years in various military, government and Communist Party posts, including minister of education and president of the Cuban Olympic Committee.

At the time of his death, he was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), deputy to the People's Power National Assembly, and advisor to the president of the Councils of State and of Ministers.