Francisco Aguirre

Cuban politician and trade unionist

Francisco Aguirre (1910 – 16 August 1967) was a Cuban politician and trade unionist.

Lore & Background

Born in Havana, Aguirre worked in hospitality in New York City, where he joined the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union. On returning to Cuba, he joined the Restaurant Workers' Union, becoming its president. He also joined the Partido Auténtico and was elected to the Congress of Cuba. In 1945, he toured the United States with Juan Arévalo to discuss founding an anti-communist confederation of Latin American trade unions. He used his post as secretary of the credentials commission of the Workers' Central Union of Cuba (CTC) to exclude communists. In 1947, he was appointed national Minister of Labour, where he attempted to mechanise the tobacco industry but failed. In 1949, he became interim general secretary of the CTC but lost a subsequent election. He then served as secretary of the Inter-American Confederation of Workers, and later as first general secretary of the ICFTU Inter American Regional Organisation of Workers, but was replaced in 1952. After the Cuban revolution, he was imprisoned. His death from a heart condition was announced in 1967.

Reader's Guide

Francisco Aguirre was a Cuban politician and trade unionist, not a footballer. He was born in Havana in 1910 and died on 16 August 1967. His career included union leadership, government service, and anti-communist labor organizing in the Americas.