Carlos Rafael Rodríguez Rodríguez

Politician and economist. His main theoretical contribution to economics was the differentiation between the concepts of "growth" and "development" that appears for the first time in his analysis of the book by Raúl Lorenzo titled El empleo en Cuba.

He was born in the city of Cienfuegos. At the age of six he entered the Colegio Montserrat (Jesuit) in his native city, and continued his secondary studies at Champagnat (Marist Brothers). He enrolled at the University of La Habana, and completed in four years his studies of Law and Political, Social and Economic Sciences, as first honors student; of a total of 33 subjects, he received 33 outstanding grades, 31 ordinary awards and 4 extraordinary awards, as well as the National Prize "González Lanusa In Memoriam", for the best Law student.

At age 17 he joined the struggle being waged by the Student Directory in Cienfuegos against the dictatorship of Gerardo Machado, for which he suffered imprisonment in 1931. On September 4, 1933, when the Provisional Government of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes was overthrown, he was part of the triumvirate that occupied the Cienfuegos mayoralty. In 1935 he was part of the University Strike Committee, which led student struggles. Due to disagreements with the sellout policy of the Directory, he resigned from his position as Mayor and became part of the Left Wing of the Student Movement, under the direction of the Communist Party of Cuba, an organization he joined in 1936.

The following year he spoke on behalf of the students when autonomy was restored to the University. Between 1938 and 1940 he co-directed the magazine El Comunista. Upon graduating in 1939, he devoted himself entirely to revolutionary struggle and took charge of directing the Communist Revolutionary Union Party, which later became the Popular Socialist Party.

He was Minister without portfolio in the constitutional government of Fulgencio Batista, from 1940 to 1944. As a founding member of the Popular Socialist Party (PSP), he was part of its National Executive Bureau, to which he belonged until its dissolution in 1960, and of whose daily newspaper Hoy, he was Director.

He led the clandestine struggle of the PSP against the tyranny of Fulgencio Batista. In June 1958 he was appointed representative of the PSP before Fidel Castro in the Sierra Maestra. He returned to Havana two months later to coordinate the aid that members of his Party would provide to the rebel troops, which intended to carry out the invasion to the west, which were directed by guerrilla Commanders Ernesto Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos. He returned again to the Sierra where he remained during the last months of the insurrectional struggle.

After the revolutionary triumph of 1959, he served as Member of the National Leadership of the Integrated Revolutionary Organizations, was linked to the University Reform process and to the creation and direction of its School of Economics, in which he exercised memorable teaching.

He was President of the National Institute of Agrarian Reform between 1963 and 1965, and Minister President of the National Commission of Economic and Scientific-Technical Collaboration from 1965 to 1976. Elected from the First to the Fourth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba as a member of its Political Bureau, and despite his illness he was also present at the Fifth Congress.

Permanent Representative of Cuba to the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, he guided Cuba's foreign relations from the direction of the Party, and was its representative or presided over numerous country delegations at international events, such as those sponsored by the UN, ECLAC, FAO and by different Communist Parties. Elected by Cienfuegos as Deputy to the National Assembly of People's Power in 1976, he later served as Vice President of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the magazine Cuba Socialista, Assistant Director of Mediodía, Director of Dialéctica and Co-director of Fundamentos.

His main theoretical contribution in the field of economics was his differentiation between the concepts of "growth" (to determine the quantitative aspect of the process) and "development" (as a qualitative assessment of it), which appears for the first time in his analysis of the book by Raúl Lorenzo titled: El empleo en Cuba.

He received innumerable distinctions and first-class honors from countries of the then Socialist Community, among them: Czechoslovakia, Germany, Bulgaria, Poland, Mongolia and Romania. Similarly, he obtained the distinction of Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters from France.

He was awarded numerous national distinctions, including the National Order "José Martí", for his 83 years of life and 65 years of uninterrupted struggle in service of Cuba. He died at the age of 84, and his funeral took place on December 9, 1997 at the Colón cemetery in La Habana, where he was accompanied by the high leadership of the Revolution and thousands of Havanans who came to pay him their final tribute.

ACTIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Cuba en CEPAL. Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, La Habana, 1970
Letra con filo. 3 Tomos. Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, La Habana, 1983
Palabras en los setenta. Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, La Habana, 1984.

PASSIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Almodóvar Muñoz, Carmen. Antología crítica de la historiografía cubana (período neocolonial). Editorial Pueblo y Educación, La Habana, 1989, pp. 500- 502 y 524-542
Barreras Ferrán, Ramón. "En nosotros estará siempre él, en la lucha, el sacrificio y la victoria". En: Granma. La Habana, 10 de diciembre de 1997, pp. 4-5
El pensamiento de Fidel Castro. Editora Política, La Habana, 1983, pp. 806
"Falleció Carlos Rafael Rodríguez Rodríguez". En: Granma. La Habana, 9 de diciembre de 1997, p. 1
Ricardo Luis, Roger. "Carlos Rafael pertenece a la estirpe de hombres que luchan toda la vida". En: Granma. La Habana, 10 de diciembre de 1997, p. 1
Suardíaz, Luis: "Ráfagas desde el caballo de pelea". En: Granma. La Habana, 11 de diciembre de 1997, p. 3.
Rodríguez Rodríguez, Carlos Rafael. En: Cien figuras de la Ciencia en Cuba/ Rolando García Blanco.../et-al/.- La Habana: Editorial Científico-Técnica, 2002