Armando Valladares

Armando Valladares Perez (born May 30, 1937) is a Cuban-American poet, diplomat and former political prisoner for his involvement in the Cuban dissident movement.

In 1960, he was arrested by the Cuban government for opposing Fidel Castro, after having initially supported him. As a result Amnesty International named him a prisoner of conscience.

Following his release in 1982, he wrote a book detailing his imprisonment and torture at the hands of the Cuban government, and was appointed in 1987 by U.S. President Ronald Reagan to serve as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Provided by Wikipedia