| Julio César Gandarilla Bermejo | |
| Office: | Minister of the Interior of Cuba |
| Term Start: | 10 January 2017 |
| Term End: | 24 November 2020 |
| Predecessor: | Carlos Fernández Gondín |
| Successor: | Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas[1] |
| Birth Date: | 1943 |
| Birth Place: | Matanzas Province, Cuba |
| Death Place: | Havana, Cuba |
| Occupation: | Politician |
Julio César Gandarilla Bermejo (1943 – 24 November 2020) was a Cuban politician who served as Minister of the Interior from January 2017 until his death.
Gandarilla Bermejo was born in 1943 in Matanzas Province, Cuba.[2]
Gandarilla Bermejo was a founder of the National Revolutionary Militia.[2] He was a vice admiral in the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces,[3] and fought in the Angolan Civil War.[2] He was head of the Military Counterintelligence Directorate for 16 years.[2] Gandarilla Bermejo was a member of the Communist Party of Cuba, and a deputy in the National Assembly of People's Power.[4]
In 2015, Gandarilla Bermejo became First Deputy Minister of the Ministry of the Interior, replacing Carlos Fernández Gondín, who became Minister of the Interior.[5] In January 2017, he became Minister of the Interior, succeeding Carlos Fernández Gondín who had died earlier that month,[6] becoming the sixth Minister of the Interior since the role was created in 1961.[2] In the same month, he signed a memorandum of understanding with outgoing US president Barack Obama.[5] Whilst Minister of the Interior, he introduced legislation aimed at repressing opposition and dissent. Some of the legislation was criticised by human rights organisations for allegedly violating freedom of speech.[5]
In October 2019, Gandarilla Bermejo signed a memorandum of understanding with the Russian Security Council.[5] The following month, the US banned Gandarilla Bermejo from entering the country due to Cuba's support for socialist Nicolás Maduro during the Venezuelan presidential crisis.[7] His two sons were also sanctioned by the US.[5] [8] Gandarilla Bermejo did not have a Twitter account, even though Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel said all senior leaders should have one.[8]
Gandarilla Bermejo died of cancer[5] on 24 November 2020.[9] He was cremated without a public funeral ceremony.[2] [5]