State-run media in Cuba say the country's defense minister died from a heart attack Saturday.

Julio Casas Regueiro fought alongside Fidel and Raul Castro in the guerrilla war that brought the two brothers to power in 1959. He succeeded Raul Castro as head of the armed forces in 2008, when Castro replaced his brother Fidel as president.

State media said Casas Regueiro was cremated and that Monday has been declared an official day of mourning.

Casas Regueiro was 75 years old.