Fidel Castro’s Former Bodyguard Juan Reinaldo Sanchez Dies

Havana/Juan Reinaldo Sanchez, Fidel Castro’s bodyguard between 1977 and 1994, died from lung cancer on Tuesday in Miami. The author of the tell-all book The Hidden Life of Fidel Castro, written in collaboration with the journalist Axel Gflden, had left the Island in 2008.

Sanchez, who belonged to the former presidents personal security force with the rank of lieutenant colonel, was the only member of the guard to flee Cuba. After asking for early retirement, he spent two years in prison.

In his book, the former bodyguard told of the luxurious life of Fidel Castro, revealing that he owned yachts and some twenty residences scattered throughout the Island.