Cuban Defence Minister Julio Casas Regueiro died of a heart attack in Havana on Saturday, the country's political leaders said. He was 75. Casas Regueiro, who succeeded General Raul Castro as head of the armed forces in 2008 when Castro became president, fell "victim to cardiac arrest," and his body was cremated according to his wishes, the Communist Party politburo said in a statement read on state television.