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Raúl Roa Kourí, veteran diplomat of the Cuban regime, passed away this Sunday at the age of 89, just days before turning 90, as confirmed on social media by the Cuban ambassador to Belgium and the institution he presided over in his final years.
He was the only son of Raúl Roa García, known as the "Chancellor of Dignity," who held the position of Foreign Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and became one of the most emblematic intellectuals of the Revolution.
The news was announced by Juan Antonio Fernández Palacios, the Cuban ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium and the European Union, who expressed on his social media: "I am saddened by the tragic and unexpected news of the passing of Raúl Roa Kouri. We will remember him as the astute intellectual and diplomat, a cultured speaker and brilliant mind. We learned from him in the forums of the UN, from New York to Geneva. My deepest condolences."
The board of the Honorary Chair "Raúl Roa García" of the Higher Institute of International Relations, which was presided over by Roa Kourí himself, also confirmed his passing and described it as "a significant loss for Cuban diplomacy and for all of us who had the privilege of knowing his exemplary dedication to service, his integrity, his wisdom, and his unwavering commitment to the preservation and dissemination of the thought and work of Raúl Roa García."
Born in Havana on July 9, 1936, Roa Kourí dedicated more than three decades to the foreign service of the Cuban regime.
His longest tenure was as ambassador to the UN in New York, a position he held for 14 years.
In addition, he served in diplomatic roles in Prague, Paris, Rome, Mexico City, Brasília, and Santiago de Chile, and was also an ambassador to the Holy See, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Permanent Secretary for Economic Mutual Assistance Council affairs.
He was fluent in five languages —Spanish, English, French, Italian, and Portuguese— and was a regular contributor to publications such as Bohemia, Casa de las Américas, La Gaceta de Cuba, and Opus Habana, as well as the Havana newspapers El Mundo and Revolución.
As a writer, he left behind titles such as The Battle in Geneva (1989), In the Torrent —Casa de las Américas Prize 1999— and Memory of Various Worlds (2012).
His death comes just seven days after the 44th anniversary of his father's passing, which occurred on July 6, 1982, with whom he shared not only a name but also the vocation of making words an instrument of Cuban foreign policy.
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