Cuba’s Jorge Risquet: the Brother I Never Had
October 7, 2015
Cuba’s Jorge Risquet: the Brother I Never Had
by Piero Gleijeses
Jorge Risquet with Nelson Mandela.
Jorge Risquet was like the brother I never had . We had been working together since 1994. He had been selected by Fidel and Raúl Castro to oversee my access to the closed Cuban archives, and he headed the declassification commission that was created for my research on Cuban policy in Africa.
Ours began as a good professional relationship. I appreciated Risquet’s intelligence, his profound knowledge of Africa, his sense of humor. It was pleasant to work with him, and it was useful: Risquet was an incisive critic and on many occasions he helped me understand that my analysis of certain aspects of Cuba’s policy in Africa was mistaken.
With the passing of time, my respect and admiration for Risquet turned into a friendship that became ever deeper. For more than two decades, for me he became a brother, the only brother I ever had. The void his death has left in my life is immense.
Others will describe Risquet’s distinguished participation in the Youth of the Cuban Communist Party, how heroically he resisted the torture when he was captured by Batista’s police in late 1956, his actions in the Sierra Maestra at Raúl Castro’s side, and many other episodes of a beautiful life. Here I want to remember that part of Risquet’s life I know very well: the role he played in Africa as the representative of Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution..
More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/10/07/jorge-risquet-the-brother-i-never-had/
