[1] Born in Havana, Cuba on 1 August 1925, José Quevedo Pérez grew up in a military environment, since his father served as an officer in the constitutional army until 1945 when he retired at the rank of Colonel.

[2] Because of his prestige and leadership within the army, he was assigned to lead troops during Operation Verano the Cuban military offensive against 26 July Movement rebels in the summer of 1958.

In a letter written in December 1958, Fidel Castro referred to Quevedo Perez as “one of the most respectable and honorable commanders of the constitutional Army” and a “spontaneous and legitimate standard bearer” of the revolutionary cause.

[1] After Retiring as a Brigadier General in the Cuban Revolutionary Army, Quevedo Pérez went to Miami in November 2003 to visit a son sick with cancer who died days after his arrival.

He then decided to remain in the United States and stayed away from public life until mid-2006, when he made presentations at schools and appeared on television in Miami, distancing himself from the Cuban communist regime.