Candelaria Rodríguez

Candelaria Rodríguez Hernández (born 23 October 1928 - after 1998) was a Cuban lawyer and anti-war activist. After graduating from the University of Havana in 1949, she became active in leftist causes, aimed at revising the Cuban Civil Code and improving women's rights. She was a founder of the Federación Democrática de Mujeres Cubanas (Democratic Federation of Cuban Women), an affiliation of the Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF). In 1951, she participated in WIDF's fact-finding mission to North Korea. Upon her return to Cuba, she was jailed, but later released. Her continued efforts to prevent Cubans participating in the Korean War resulted in several more arrests and loss of her post as a legal advisor at the National Bank of Cuba. The "Hands Off Korea" campaign she led with Edith García Buchaca was effective in turning public opinion against Cuban involvement in the conflict. She attended several WIDF congresses and conferences and served on the Executive Council of the international organization from 1953.

After the Cuban Revolution, Rodríguez became a civil servant and worked in the Ministry of Labor. By 1962, she was director of the department dealing with labor policy. She was selected as one of thirty-five members of the Consejo Nacional de Juristas de Cuba (National Counsel of Cuban Jurists), established in 1977, as the Cuban branch of the Asociación Americana de Juristas (American Association of Jurists). Throughout her career, she advocated for the reunification of Korea and in 1994 published Korea Revisited after 40 Years, following a further visit to North Korea. Rodríguez received recognition in 1998 when she was appointed an honorary member of the Sociedad Cubana de Derecho Constitucional y Administrativo (Cuban Society of Constitutional and Administrative Law).