Carlos Rafael Rodríguez
Cuban politician (1913-1997)
Carlos Rafael Rodríguez Rodríguez (May 23, 1913 – December 8, 1997) was a Cuban Communist politician and economist, who served in the cabinets of presidents Fulgencio Batista and Fidel Castro.
Born in Cienfuegos, he became mayor of the city when he was only 20. Four years later, he joined the Communist Party and was appointed editor of the party newspaper, Hoy. He graduated from university in 1939. Although he was a participant in the 1935 general strike against provisional President Carlos Mendieta, in 1942, Rodríguez joined the cabinet of President Fulgencio Batista. A "dedicated Marxist", Rodríguez's participation in the Batista cabinet marked the high point of the regime's collaboration with the Communist Party.
Rodríguez first met Fidel Castro through a mutual friend after Castro visited the Communist Party's bookstore a few days before his disastrous attack on the Moncada Barracks on July 26, 1953. Although Rodríguez denounced the attack after it occurred, he eventually allied himself with Castro in the Cuban Revolution. In July 1958, he joined the 26th of July Movement in the Sierra Maestra mountain range in support of its guerrilla war against Batista; it was the first such gesture of support by the Communist Party for the rebels.
Castro befriended him, and after his victory, he rewarded Rodríguez with top posts in the Cuban government.
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