Rafael Guas Inclán (1896 – October 12, 1975) was a

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

Vice President of Cuba The vice president of Cuba, previously the vice president of the Council of State between 1976 and 2019, is the second highest political position obtainable in the Council of State of Cuba. Currently there is a provision for several vice presid ...

. He was son of Carlos Guas Pagueras, a Cuban independence general and

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

and Rosa Inclan. He was graduate of the

University of Havana The University of Havana (UH; ) is a public university located in the Vedado district of Havana, the capital of Cuba. Founded on 5 January 1728, the university is the oldest in Cuba, and one of the first to be founded in the Americas. Originall ...

School of Law A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for bec ...

where he also later taught classes. Guas was lifelong member of the Liberal Party of Cuba, in 1925 was the youngest elected person to the Cuban House of Representatives, which he presided from April 1927 to August 1933. Guas went into exile, with his father and brother Gregorio (a dentist and also member of the Cuban House of Representatives) after President

Gerardo Machado Gerardo Machado y Morales (28 September 1869 – 29 March 1939) was a general of the Cuban War of Independence and President of Cuba from 1925 to 1933. Machado was elected president in 1924 as the leader of the Liberal Party, a moderate reform ...

was overthrown in August 1933. The three were involved in an automobile accident in Miami on Dec. 6, 1935, as a result of which their father died. The brothers then returned to Cuba to bury their father. He was a delegate to the Cuban Constitutional Convention 1939-40. He served as senator (1940–44) and

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of the

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Fulgencio Batista Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (born Rubén Zaldívar; January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who played a dominant role in Cuban politics from his initial rise to power as part of the 1933 Revolt of t ...

, but he resigned in November of 1958. Guas was elected Mayor of Havana in November 1958, but did not assume the post after Castro seized power on January 1, 1959. A street mob burned his law office that day. Guas sought asylum in the Chilean Embassy in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Brigade 2506 Brigade 2506 (Brigada Asalto 2506) was a CIA-sponsored group of Cuban exiles formed in 1960 to attempt the military overthrow of the Cuban government headed by Fidel Castro. It carried out the abortive Bay of Pigs Invasion landings in Cuba ...

prior to the April 1961

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

-sponsored

Bay of Pigs invasion The Bay of Pigs Invasion (, sometimes called or after the Playa Girón) was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in April 1961 by the United States of America and the Cuban Democratic Revolutionary Front ...

but was rejected because of his age. His son, Carlos Rafael, died in combat at the Bay of Pigs. He died in Miami and is buried at Caballero Rivero Woodlawn North Park Cemetery and Mausoleum there.

References

Latin American Studies website article

1896 births 1975 deaths 20th-century Cuban lawyers Speakers of the House of Representatives of Cuba Cuban senators Cuban anti-communists Government ministers of Cuba Mayors of places in Cuba Vice presidents of Cuba Cuban emigrants to the United States {{Cuba-mayor-stub Exiles of the Cuban Revolution in the United States