Melba Hernández
| Melba Hernandez | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
28 July 1921 Cruces, Las Villas |
| Died | 9 March 2014 (aged 92) Havana, Cuba |
| Nationality | Cuban |
| Occupation | politician and diplomat |
Melba Hernández Rodríguez del Rey (28 July 1921 – 9 March 2014) was a Cuban politician and diplomat. She served as the Cuban Ambassador to Vietnam and to Cambodia.
Born in Cruces, Las Villas, Hernández was the only child of mulatto conservative parents who resided in a modern third-floor apartment on Jovellar Street in Vedado district of Havana. She graduated from the University of Havana School of Law in 1943. Hernández worked as a Customs attorney for the Carlos Prio government. She was one of the two women (the other being Haydée Santamaría Cuadrado) involved in the 1953 Moncada Barracks assault. Although she had been practicing law for a decade, during the Moncada trial she chose not to defend herself, as Fidel Castro did, and was instead represented by Jorge Paglieri Cardero. She was sentenced to 7 months in prison. She was later declared "Heroina del Moncada". In the early 1960s she was in charge of women's prisons in Cuba.
She had been a Deputy in the National Assembly of People’s Power since 1993 (she previously served from 1976–1986) representing the municipality of 10 de Octubre. Hernández had been a member of Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba since 1986. She had also served as the Secretary General of OSPAAAL (Organization of Solidarity of the People of Asia, Africa & Latin America).
She was married to Jesús Montané Oropesa, a top aide to Fidel Castro, until his death in 1999.
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