Man dies, Hero of Labor will live forever.

The Matanzas trade union movement regrets the death of the Hero of Labor of the Republic of Cuba Ricardo García Acosta, the exemplary driver of the Base Business Unit of School Transportation, in Matanzas, decorated with the Gold Star in 2018.

He was  a member of the Transport and Ports Workers Union from the municipality of Pedro Betancourt, who for more than 40 years kept the Girón bus delivered by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro to the center that was the initiator of the Schools in the Countryside, in Jagüey Grande. He took care of it as if it were the apple of his eye: «A good driver falls in love with his car, it hurts him even when it is scratched or soiled», he told the newspaper Los Trabajadores de Cuba.

Mañy, as Ricardo was affectionately called, used to tell with deep emotion about the meeting he had with Fidel. It was unexpected. That day two ball teams were playing in the Dupont neighborhood, specifically on 38th Street and 1st Avenue, in Varadero: one of them was made up of combatants from the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) and airport workers; the other was made up of members of the Border Guard Troops.

Ricardo was in the MININT group. «Suddenly we saw several Alfa Romeo cars appear. The Commander in Chief got out of one of them. We were all surprised. He approached us and asked us where we were from. We explained and he said he wanted to play with us. He asked which team he could join, and we told him to choose. He decided on the Border Guard.

«I had the honor of pitching him. One of the members of the Commander’s escort came up to me and said quietly: ‘Be careful, don’t hit the Chief’. I replied: ‘Don’t worry. Of course, I got a little nervous, but everything went well.»

He recalls that, when they finished, Fidel asked them why they all had different shirts and announced that he would send them a uniform. «Within a week, we had them here».

That is one of the anecdotes that marked his life. He drove his bus until 2018, when he received a new bus, Diana brand, in recognition of his work. Getting used to it was a bit difficult because it was as if he was abandoning an old love, but there is no doubt that he was in a better position to continue giving his best so as not to disappoint the trust of his colleagues and his family. He is one of those who thinks that a hero is forged every day.

«The man has died, the Hero of Labor of the Republic of Cuba will always live,» said Osmar Ramirez, secretary general of the Provincial Committee of the Cuban Workers’ Central Union (CTC), after hearing the sad news.

Ricardo García passed away on the night of February 14th and his funeral honors will take place today, when he will be given his last farewell.

Written by Eva Luna Acosta Armiñán.