Ricardo Alarcón - Misplaced Pages

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File:Ricardo Alarcon C-Span.jpg

Ricardo Alarcón speaking before the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, New York.

Dr. Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada (born May 21 1937, Havana) is the president of the National Assembly (ANPP) of Cuba since 1993. A graduate of the University of Havana with a doctorate in philosophy, he served in various diplomatic posts following the Cuban Revolution. Alarcón is considered a possible successor to Fidel Castro.

Biography

Alarcón entered the University of Havana in 1954 where he became active in the Federation of University Students (FEU), serving as the secretary of culture for the FEU from 1955 to 1956. Alarcón would become active in Castro's 26th of July Movement, which was attempting to oust Cuban President Fulgencio Batista, in July 1955. Alarcón assisted in the organization of the student apparatus of the guerrilla organization's youth brigade. Alarcón would be elected vice president of the FEU in 1959 and would serve as president of the student organization from 1961 to 1962.

In 1962, the new Castro-led government appointed Alarcón director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Americas division, where he would begin his diplomatic career. Between 1966 and 1978 he would serve as Permanent Representative of Cuba to the United Nations, Vice President of the General Assembly of the United Nations, President of the Council of Administration to the United Nations Development Programme, and Vice-President of the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. In 1978 Alarcón was promoted to first vice-minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in 1992 was made minister. In February 1993 he became the President of the National Assembly. In 1995 he was invited to address scholars and students of Oxford University by the Oxford Cuban Forum, a student organization then ran by upcoming scholar and Cuban specialist Maurizio Giuliano.

In August 2000, Alarcón was involved in a minor dispute with the United States when he was denied a visa to attend an international conference in New York City. Alarcón lived in Manhattan for over twelve years but because of his status as a Cuban government official he is only allowed within a 25 mile radius of the United Nations.

On December 2, 2003, then-Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security John R. Bolton charged that Cuba, along with Iran, North Korea, Syria, and Libya, were "rogue states...whose pursuit of weapons of mass destruction makes them hostile to U.S. interests will learn that their covert programs will not escape either detection or consequences." In response, Alarcón called Bolton "a liar" and cited US claims pertaining to Iraq's weapons of mass destruction in justification of the Iraq War which were later found to be incorrect.

Alarcón is a vocal promoter of Cuban policies in the international media, particularly on contemporary issues such as the defense of the "Cuban Five" and the extradition request for Luis Posada Carriles, sought by the Venezuelan government on charges relating to the bombing of Cubana Flight 455 on October 6, 1976.

Preceded byIsidoro Malmierca-Peoli

Foreign Minister of Cuba
1992-1993

Succeeded byRoberto Robaina Gonzalez