He tweeted that Cuban diplomacy “is the heir and faithfully follows in the former foreign minister’s footsteps, his fervent patriotism and impetus in the defense of the Revolution.”

Roa was born in Havana on April 18, 1907, and since 1923 he was a member of the students’ revolutionary movement organized by youth leader Julio Antonio Mella.

In 1925 he joined the Law School of the University of Havana and five years later he was the founder of the Student Directory, an organization committed to overthrowing the dictatorship of Gerardo Machado (1925-1933).

Due to his activities he went into exile in the United States, where he created the Cuban Revolutionary Anti-imperialist Organization, and after returning home he was a professor at the University of Havana.

Since 1948, the writer and politician was the director of Culture of the Ministry of Education, financed the publication of important books, subsidized the National Ballet and launched a movement of theatrical productions, art salons and humor.

After the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in January 1959, he was appointed ambassador at the Organization of American States (OAS) and later he was the minister of Foreign Affairs.

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