Havana – Benito Martinez Abogan, Cuba’s oldest man, died Wednesday in the central city of Ciego de Avila. He was 126.
Martinez was admitted a week ago to the provincial hospital in Ciego de Avila, where he died of cardiac insufficiency complicated by broncho-pneumonia, local media reported.
He was born on June 19, 1880, in Cavaellon, Haiti, according to his Cuban identity card, and came to this island in 1925.
In Cuba, he worked in agriculture and construction in the eastern part of the country, including on the farm of Angel Castro, the father of Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
Known among his friends as “Avion” (airplane) for his use of the guataca, a bladed tool for working the soil, Martinez headed a group of ancient Cubans who periodically meet for the so-called “120-year Club,” founded by Dr. Eugenio Selman-Housein, one of Castro’s physicians.
In Cuba, a nation of 11 million, there are 2,721 people older than 100, according to the 2002 census.
Although the Club recommends eating a balanced diet, taking care of one’s health, daily exercise, cultivating the spirit through culture and seeking healthy surroundings, Benito followed practically none of that advice during his long life.
Last year, in one of the most recent meetings of the 120-year Club, the lifelong bachelor admitted to being a coffee-lover, as well as to smoking and chasing women. He said that he had never gone to school and bragged about his iron constitution, although for practically his entire life he ate a starchy, fat-laden basic diet of cassava (or yuca), yams and pork.
Benito sought medical assistance for the first time in 2000.
