Rosa María Payá welcomed at the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See

Foto: Wikimedia Commons / Jindřich Nosek (NoJin) (CC BY-SA 4.0)

October 16, 2026

Cuban activist Rosa María Payá was received on October 14 at the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See in Rome, where she spoke with several diplomats and shared the story of her father, Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, Martí Noticias reported.

In a message posted after the meeting, the U.S. mission described Oswaldo Payá as a man of deep Catholic faith who "advocated for freedom of expression, free elections and the release of political prisoners in Cuba." The embassy added that it remains committed to supporting the Cuban people "in their pursuit of freedom and fundamental liberties."

Havana-born Payá leads the Cuba Decide initiative and serves as a commissioner of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) for 2026-2029. The Rome visit came during a busy week abroad: in Madrid she received the FAES Freedom Award, Europa Press reported.

Cuban authorities have not publicly commented on the meeting.

Fuente: Martí Noticias, Europa Press

Rosa María Payá Acevedo

Society

Rosa María Payá Acevedo (Havana, January 10, 1989) is a prominent Cuban activist for freedom and human rights. Daughter of the late democratic activist Oswaldo Payá, Rosa María holds a degree in Physics from the University of Havana and a Master's degree in Public Administration from Columbia University. In 2015, she founded Cuba Decide, a civic initiative and popular movement that promotes political and economic change toward democracy in Cuba through a plebiscite.