Raúl Roa García: The Foreign Minister of Dignity

Havana, July 6 (RHC) -- Today marks the 41st anniversary of the death of the eminent writer, polemicist, journalist, politician and diplomat Raúl Roa García, known as the Foreign Minister of Dignity.

Roa died in Havana on July 6, 1982, after a fruitful life as a revolutionary fighter, student and later professor at the University of Havana, and as a militant intellectual and diplomat linked to the most just and progressive causes.

He came from a family that cultivated in him the love for the homeland.  It is no coincidence that from a very young age he was at the service of just causes.  He fought against the Machado dictatorship and, later, confronted the brutal Batista tyranny.

After the triumph of the Revolution, he was appointed Cuban ambassador to the Organization of American States and, shortly thereafter, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

In international forums, he defended the just causes of the peoples of America and the whole world.   He proudly asserted his criteria and responded with certainty to the attacks and lies of the representatives of the U.S. government.

Raul Roa, still lives in memory, the battle of the Foreign Minister of Dignity in defense of the Cuban Revolution in the tribunes of the UN and the world.

He received the name of Foreign Minister of Dignity after a meeting of the OAS held in Costa Rica in 1960.  When he became convinced that Cuba's just demands were never going to be met by the Organization of American States, he stood up and said he was leaving with his people, and that the peoples of the continent were also leaving.   (Sources:ACN/Cubaminrex)