Armando Valladares Perez was born on May 30,1937 and is a Cuban-American poet, diplomat and former political prisoner for his involvement in the Cuban dissident movement.
11 Facts About Armando Valladares
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The international human rights organizations Oslo Freedom Forum, PEN International, and Amnesty International, in contrast, stated their belief that Valladares had been imprisoned solely for his anti-Castro stance, and the latter organization named him a prisoner of conscience.
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The Cuban government decided in 1982 that Armando Valladares would be released and could leave the country, on condition that he got on and off the plane at his own feet and in the sight of everyone, which he was able to do.
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Armando Valladares subsequently appealed to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States, stating that he was being denied important medical care, including a functioning wheelchair.
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The IACHR found that Cuba had violated a number of Armando Valladares's rights, including the right to a fair trial, the right to protection against arbitrary arrest and the right to humane treatment during the time the individual is in custody, and the right to due process and protection from cruel, infamous, or unusual punishment.
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Armando Valladares's first published collection, From My Wheelchair, detailed prison abuses and was released in 1974.
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Armando Valladares was released that year after 22 years' imprisonment after a direct appeal by French President Francois Mitterrand.
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Ronald Reagan 8.
One year later, US President Ronald Reagan appointed Armando Valladares to serve as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
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The US State Department responded by accusing Cuba of "mounting a massive defamation campaign against Armando Valladares" to deflect attention from its human rights record.
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Armando Valladares vigorously argued for UN attention to Cuban human rights abuses during his tenure, leading Human Rights Watch to criticize him for appearing to have "little interest in pursuing other violators, particularly of the non-Communist sort," such as US allies Iraq or Guatemala.
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Armando Valladares is a member of the international advisory council of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.