Felipe Pérez Roque

Who is Felipe Pérez Roque?

Felipe Ramón Pérez Roque was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba from 1999 to 2009. At his appointment, he was not only the youngest member of the Cuban cabinet but also the only one to be born after the Cuban Revolution in 1959.

Pérez Roque was formerly an electronics engineer and leader of student organizations who had 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 was also a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and served on the Council of State. He was replaced as Foreign Minister by former United Nations Ambassador Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla in March 2009 after allegations of expressing scornful words against Fidel Castro's rule and the positions of other senior communist party leaders obtained from covert recording bugs. He was deposed from all his party and state positions.