Felipe Pérez Roque

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Felipe Pérez Roque
(Photo: Marcello Casal Jr/ABr, September 2006)

Felipe Ramón Pérez Roque (born March 28, 1965) is the foreign minister of the Republic of Cuba. At his appointment in 1999, he was not only the youngest member of the Cuban cabinet but also the only to be born after the the Cuban Revolution in 1959.

Pérez Roque was formerly an electronics engineer and leader of student organisations 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 is also a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and serves on the Council of State.

1 Role as Foreign Minister
2 Public Perceptions of Pérez Roque
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Role as Foreign Minister

Pérez Roque's role as foreign minister has been defined by statements opposing the foreign policies of the United States, in regards to both the status of Cuba and in regard to wider US foreign policy. He has described Cuba as a "country under siege" as a result of the US blockade against Cuba but he has also been seen as politician open to negotiating an end to it and accepting a much more open economy. ^[1] Pérez Roque has 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United Nations General Assembly gatherings, criticizing the role of the United States and requesting that US troops be withdrawn from Iraq.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 has 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. ^[2]

Pérez Roque has also been responsible for the deepening of trade relations between Cuba and the People's Republic of China, ^[3] and has made a number of high profile trips to the country signing a key military agreement between the two nations. ^[4]

[edit] Public Perceptions of Pérez Roque

As a former personal secretary of Fidel Castro, Pérez Roque's political leanings are often closely associated with the policies of the Cuban President. In Cuba, Pérez is nicknamed "Fax", a pejorative term implying that he is merely a transmitter of Castro's ideas, as the long term leader's public appearances have dwindled. ^[5] According to a veteran Castro supporter, Castro has chosen Pérez to lead a succession team under Raúl Castro's temporary supervision, but Pérez is often perceived to be too "narrow minded" for the next generation of Cubans. In 2001, after Fidel Castro fainted during a public speech, Pérez rallied the crowd with shouts of "Viva Fidel! Viva Raúl!" ^[5]