The Tribune

Manuel J Cutillas, great-great grandson of Bacardi founder Don Facundo Bacardi, who made his home in the Bahamas in 1960 after Fidel Castro confiscated the family business, died in his sleep in Panama on Saturday.

Mr and Mrs Bacardi left Nassau on Friday to visit her brother and sister-in-law, Mr and Mrs Carlos Dubois, at their home in Panama. Mr Cutillas, who had recently had a pacemaker installed in his heart in Miami, appeared in good health. However, according to a friend, it was thought strange when he was still asleep at 7 o’clock the next morning. He was usually up by 6:30am. It was then that it was discovered that he had died in his sleep. It is estimated that death came at about 4am Saturday.

Mrs Cutillas flew from Panama to Miami yesterday with this ashes which will be interred next to his mother. Funeral services will be held at Epiphany Catholic Church in Miami at 11am Wednesday.

Mr Cutillas is survived by his wife, Rosa, and their son, Jorge.

Mr Cutillas is the retired Chairman of the board of Bacardi Limited and Chairman of the University of Miami’s International Advisory Board. He spent nearly 50 years in the family business. Born in Cuba on March 1, 1932, he moved with his family to Nassau in 1960 after the Castro regime confiscated the family business. From 1961-1992, he served in a variety of positions including Plant Superintendent, Vice President and President of Bacardi & Co Ltd. Although he retired as Chairman in 2000, he continued to serve as a Director of several Bacardi-Martini companies and of Grupo Televisa SA, a large media company in Mexico. Mr Cutillas has been the Honorary Mexican Consul to The Bahamas since 1979. He also chaired the Lyford Cay Foundation and the Centre for a Free Cuba in Washington, DC.

He held a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, and was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Business Administration from the University of Miami in 2000. He was also a Fellow of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award World Fellowship.