Orestes Ferrara

Orestes Ferrara came from Naples to fight for Cuban independence in 1897. His wartime service brought him into contact with Calixto García, José Miguel Gómez, and Máximo Gómez. He subsequently built a career in the Liberal Party, parliament, law, and journalism, and taught at the University of Havana. ¹

Ferrara represented Cuba in Washington and signed the General Treaty of Inter-American Arbitration on 5 January 1929. The treaty committed its parties to arbitrate international disputes of a legal character that diplomacy had failed to settle, subject to specified exceptions. ²

His later service as Gerardo Machado’s secretary of state tied him closely to the regime. In 1932 he dealt with the asylum of former president Mario García Menocal and two companions in the Brazilian legation. Cuba and Brazil reached a practical arrangement permitting their departure without resolving their disagreement over the asylum convention. Pedro Martínez Fraga, later ambassador in Washington, was one of those seeking refuge. ^{3, 1}

Ferrara returned to constitutional politics as a delegate to the 1940 assembly. His later diplomatic work included representation at UNESCO. He also wrote extensively on political and diplomatic history, including a study of European intervention proposals during Cuba’s independence struggle and books on the Renaissance. ^{4, 1}

After the 1959 revolution he settled in Italy and continued writing his memoirs. He died in Rome in 1972. ^{4, 1}