José Ramón Balaguer, a longtime member of Cuba’s communist leadership who as health minister sent thousands of the island’s doctors on missions to win hearts and minds in Venezuela and developing countries around the world, has died at age 90.
An official statement read over state television late Friday reported the death, though no cause was given. It said his ashes would be honored at the Pantheon of Veterans in Havana before being taken to eastern Cuba, where he was born.
