Rogelio A. de la Torre
Rogelio A. de la Torre received a doctorate in law from the Law School of the University of Havana in 1949 and six years later was named a professorthere. While still a student, he joined the “Juventud de Acción Católica,” a national organization founded by Hermano Victorino, today a candidate for beatification.
In 1959, after the overthrow of Batista, de la Torre was appointed head legal counsel by interim Prime Minister José Miró Cardona and retained the position when Fidel Castro replaced Miró Cardona. Grasping Castro’s intention to bring Communism to the island and to destroy the Catholic Church, however, de la Torre resigned, and in July 1960 fled with his family to the United States. In 1961, he took part in the Bay of Pigs military initiative to topple Castro’s regime. Subsequently, he moved his family to Indiana to begin a teaching career.
With a PhD in Hispanic Literatures from Indiana University, Bloomington, de la Torre served for almost 30 years on the faculty of Indiana University-South Bend, where he was chair of the Department of Foreign Languages and associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts. In his field, he published books, articles, and poetry.
His focus, however, has always been Cuban politics: the fight against communist ideas, the Catholic Church, law, and education. To this end, he has contributed chapters to three edited collections, participated in dozens of conferences, and directed, since its inception in 1993, the most important academic lecture series in the Cuban exile community, the Peñas Varelianas. Additionally, he has worked with the Communities of Cuban Ecclesiastic Reflection in the Diaspora (CRECED), the Fundación Padre Felix Varela, and Acción Católica Cubana en el exilio, and remained active in the Colegio de Abogados de Cuba en el Exilio.
