Oscar Gans

Oscar Gans combined parliamentary politics with diplomacy. He entered the Cuban House of Representatives in 1936, served as a secretary of the 1940 Constituent Assembly, and became secretary of the House in 1944. Elected senator for Havana Province in 1948, he was on leave from that office when appointed ambassador to the United States. ¹

In Washington in August 1949, Gans advocated an economic development treaty that would stabilize Cuba’s share of the American sugar market and provide technical training for Cuban workers. He also proposed separating provisions concerning access to courts, personal security, and other rights into a human rights convention. ²

Later that year he chaired the fifth conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization. The conference selected Rome for its permanent headquarters, approved expanded technical assistance, and decided to add Spanish as a working language after the move. His vice-chairmen included Australia’s ambassador Norman Makin. ³

Gans returned to Cuban cabinet service as justice minister in February 1950. He became minister of state in August 1951 and prime minister on 1 October. During his brief foreign ministry tenure, he returned to Washington with Ambassador Luis Machado to discuss sugar legislation and American private claims against Cuba. The promised payments on those claims did not materialize during 1951. ^{1, 4}