Outstanding Cuban diplomat Giraldo Mazola Collazo has passed away

June 15, 2024

Cuban diplomacy mourns this Thursday the death, in Havana, of ambassador Giraldo Mazola Collazo, at the age of 86.

Mazola joined the struggle against the Batista tyranny at age 16, when he was studying Medicine and was part of the action groups of July 26 in Havana.

Due to his participation in various actions, he suffered imprisonment and torture. He was Secretary of International Relations of the National Directorate of July 26.

After the triumph of the Revolution, at age 23, he became founding President of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) in 1960, this responsibility allowed him to work closely with Fidel and Che in the creation and implementation of a structure designed to prevent the isolation of revolutionary Cuba.

From 1969 to 1974, he was executive secretary of the provincial committee of the PCC in Camagüey.

In 1974 he joined MINREX, eventually holding the positions of Director of North Africa and Middle East from 1978 to 1989 and Vice Minister from 1980 to 1993 and Head of the Office for Population Care until 2023.

Mazola also served as ambassador to Algeria, Mauritania, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Chile and Namibia and carried out numerous official missions in other countries.

At the time of his death, he was working at the Documentary Management Center, from where he continued his work rescuing the historical memory of MINREX as a legacy for the various generations of Cuban diplomats.