Rodríguez Hernández replaced René Mujica, who was the head of the Cuban mission to the Holy See since 2021.
MIAMI, United States. – Pope Leo XIV received in audience the new ambassador of the Cuban regime to the Holy See, Leyde Ernesto Rodríguez Hernández, on the occasion of the presentation of his credentials, according to reported the Vatican Press Office.
The information was also reported by Latin Presswhich held the ceremony in the Vatican Apostolic Palace and noted that, after the event, the diplomat formally assumed the leadership of the Cuban mission to the Holy See.
The same Vatican press service accurate that the pontiff received the Cuban diplomat “on the occasion of the presentation of his credentials,” and published a brief biography of the ambassador. According to that official profile, Rodríguez Hernández was born on January 5, 1969 in Sancti Spíritus, is married and has three children.
The Vatican also indicated that the new ambassador is a graduate of the “Raúl Roa García” Higher Institute of International Relations (ISRI) and that he obtained a master’s degree in History and International Relations in Havana, as well as a doctorate in Historical Sciences; He also noted that he is a full professor at ISRI.
The summary of his professional career released by the Holy See mentions, among other positions, his time in the Union of Young Communists, his work as a journalist in the international editorial office of the official newspaper Rebel Youthacademic and managerial functions at the ISRI, diplomatic missions in the Congo, France and, most recently, his performance as ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro between 2022 and 2025.
In his performance as Cuban ambassador to Serbia, his public activity recorded by state/parastatal media and related organizations was consistently focused on the traditional agenda of the Cuban Government: campaigns against the embargo (“blockade”), search for political support and construction of solidarity networks.
Latin Press reportedFor example, in a meeting with Cubans residing in Serbia he spoke of the “defense of independence” and condemning “the blockade and the hostile policy of the United States.” In another notethe same agency placed him in a “forum-debate against the blockade” in Belgrade, also in the usual line of Cuban diplomacy.
This same orientation is reflected in publications of the Serbian-Cuban Friendship Movement (pro-regime), who described his participation in an event of the “No! Sanctions” campaign, where, according to the text, the diplomat “explained the history and evolution” of what he calls the US’ “economic war” against Cuba and presented figures of damages attributed to the embargo.
