His Excellency José Ramón Cabañas Rodríguez was appointed ambassador of the Republic of Cuba to the U.S. in 2015. Cabañas has had a long diplomatic career, including serving as deputy minister, director for document management (archives), and deputy director of the North American Affairs Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as ambassador to Austria (accredited also to Croatia and Slovenia) and as permanent representative to the International Organizations in Vienna. He is a senior professor at the Higher Institute of International Relations in Havana, having graduated summa cum laude from the Raúl Roa García Higher Institute of International Relations and receiving a PhD in political sciences from Havana University. Cabañas and his wife Edilia Gonzalez are the parents of two children.