Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada

Ricardo Alarcón is a Cuban writer, diplomat, and politician. Founder of the Communist Party of Cuba and member of its Political Bureau until 2013. Doctor of Philosophy and Letters. President of the Cuban Parliament from 1993 to 2013.

Alarcón de Quesada was one of the main figures in Cuban politics and diplomacy, serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs between 1992 and 1993, President of the United Nations Security Council in February 1990 and July 1991, and was also Vice President of the General Assembly of the United Nations as well as President of the Board of Directors of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

Alarcón became linked to the revolutionary struggle from an early age. He enrolled at the University of Havana in 1954 and was part of the candidacy of the University Student Federation (FEU), participating in most of the protest activities organized by that Organization. Member of the culture secretariat of the University Student Federation (FEU) from 1955 to 1956. Collaborator of the Revolutionary Directorate.

He joined the Movement of July 26, 1955 and was an organizer of the student apparatus of the youth brigades of this revolutionary movement. Elected vice president of the FEU in 1959 and president of this organization from 1961 to 1962, replacing Rolando Cubelas.

He has held, among others, the following positions:

National President of the University Student Federation
Member of the national leadership of the Association of Rebel Youth
Member of the National Bureau and Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Union of Communist Youth
Director of Latin American and American countries at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Permanent Representative Ambassador of Cuba to the United Nations Organization
Concurrent Ambassador in Trinidad and Tobago, vice minister, first vice minister, and Minister of Foreign Affairs.

In February 1993, he was elected president of the National Assembly of People's Power, a position he held until February 24, 2013.

He was a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba since 1980. As President of the National Assembly of People's Power, he played an important role in the development of the Cuban Revolution, both nationally and internationally; he has represented the country in negotiations with the United States, in migration agreements between both countries.

As permanent representative to the United Nations Organization, he served as Vice President of the General Assembly, and was president of the Board of Directors of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and vice president of the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

On February 24, 1993, following the installation of the Fourth Legislature, he was elected President of the National Assembly of People's Power, the highest legislative body of Cuba, becoming one of the most powerful figures in the country. He was reelected as president of the Cuban Parliament in 1998, 2003, and 2008.

In 1994 he led a team of five other high-ranking officials who, representing the Cuban Government, negotiated with the authorities of the United States to end the so-called "raft crisis" and established a new migration agreement between both countries.

He led, for several years, the campaign for the liberation of five Cubans imprisoned in the United States who were detained after infiltrating anti-Castro organizations residing in southern Florida.

On February 24, 2013, he was succeeded by Esteban Lazo as President of the National Assembly of People's Power. Six months later, in July 2013, he was relieved of his duties as a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party, the highest political body of the country, of which he had been a member since 1980.