Mario García Incháustegui (c. September 1924 – 4 December 1977) was a Cuban Ambassador to Japan from 1974 until his death in 1977.

Life

Mario García Incháustegui was born to a wealthy Spanish housewares importer. He was married to Gladys Delgado Ortiz. Incháustegui studied law at the

University of Havana The University of Havana or (UH, ''Universidad de La Habana'') is a university located in the Vedado district of Havana, the capital of the Republic of Cuba. Founded on January 5, 1728, the university is the oldest in Cuba, and one of the first ...

and received his doctorates in both civil and consular law. He was a judge under the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. In the 1950s he went to Caracas, Venezuela. He returned to Cuba in 1959 and was appointed judge in the Oriente province and the extraordinary envoy. Incháustegui was also appointed as Ministre plénipotentiaire in Montevideo. In November 1959, under the government of

Alfredo Stroessner Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda (; 3 November 1912 – 16 August 2006) was a Paraguayan army officer and politician who served as President of Paraguay from 15 August 1954 to 3 February 1989. Stroessner led a coup d'état on 4 May 1954 with the ...

Incháustegui became both the Cuban ambassador to Uruguay and ambassador to Paraguay. On 12 January 1961, under the chairmanship of Benito Nardone in Montevideo, the Consejo Nacional de Gobierno declared Incháustegui persona non grata. He was accused on 21 November 1960 of supporting labor disputes. Incháustegui then became a representative of the Cuban government at the

Headquarters of the United Nations zh, 联合国总部大楼french: Siège des Nations uniesrussian: Штаб-квартира Организации Объединённых Наций es, Sede de las Naciones Unidas , image = Midtown Manhattan Skyline 004.jpg , im ...

. During the

Cuban missile crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...

in October 1962, he described the Soviet missiles as defensive and that the naval

blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are le ...

imposed by the

Kennedy administration John F. Kennedy's tenure as the 35th president of the United States, began with his inauguration on January 20, 1961, and ended with his assassination on November 22, 1963. A Democrat from Massachusetts, he took office following the 1960 p ...

was a military act.Kubanisches Außenministerium
Mario García Incháustegui
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202235218/http://anterior.cubaminrex.cu/Patrimonio/Articulos/2011/MARIO.html , date=2013-12-02 : Su recuerdo como representante de Cuba en Naciones Unidas en la Crisis de Octubre. From 1963 to 1968, he headed the international organizations department of the Ministerio del Comercio Exterior (MINCEX), (Cuban Foreign Trade Ministry) and represented the Cuban government at numerous international conferences, such as conducting negotiations at the meetings of the

International Coffee Organization The International Coffee Organization (ICO) was set up in 1963 in London, under the auspices of the United Nations (UN) due to the economic importance of coffee. It administers the International Coffee Agreement (ICA), an important instrument for ...

in London. From 1969 to 1970, he represented the Cuban government at the

United Nations Office at Geneva The United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG, french: Office des Nations Unies à Genève) in Geneva, Switzerland, is one of the four major offices of the United Nations where numerous different UN agencies have a joint presence. The main UNOG ...

. On 9 December 1970, Incháustegui was appointed as ambassador to Chile where he served from 1971 to 11 September 1973. From 1974 was the Cuban Ambassador to Japan and in 1977 was also accredited to the government in Kuala Lumpur. Incháustegui and his wife boarded Malaysia Airline System Flight 653 on 4 December 1977. The aircraft was hijacked mid-flight. During the diversion however, the aircraft crashed, killing everyone on board.

References

1977 deaths 1924 births Permanent Representatives of Cuba to the United Nations Ambassadors of Cuba to Japan Cuban terrorism victims Assassinated diplomats Ambassadors of Cuba to Chile Ambassadors of Cuba to Uruguay Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Malaysia Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1977