Felipe Perez Roque |
Wiki |
Felipe Ramón Pérez Roque (born March 28, 1965) was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba from 1999 to 2009. At his appointment, he was not only the youngest member of the Cuban cabinet but also the only one to be born after the Cuban Revolution in 1959.
Pérez Roque was formerly an electronics engineer and leader of student organizations who has served as Fidel Castro's chief of staff for a decade prior to his ministry. As well as being a prominent member of the Cuban Council of Ministers, Pérez Roque was also a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and served on the Council of State. He was replaced as Foreign Minister by former United Nations Ambassador Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla in March 2009, and he then resigned from all his party and state positions.
Pérez Roque's role as foreign minister was defined by statements opposing the foreign policies of the United States, in regard to both the status of Cuba and in regard to wider US foreign policy. He described Cuba as a "country under siege" as a result of the US embargo against Cuba but he also was seen as politician open to negotiating an end to it . Pérez Roque made a series of speeches at the annual United Nations General Assembly gatherings, criticizing the role of the United States and requesting that US troops be withdrawn from Iraq. At the gatherings, he also petitioned for the security council to include Third World countries, that all nations cooperate in the fight against terrorism, and that it is the responsibility of developed countries to ensure general and complete disarmament including nuclear disarmament.