Ali Rodriguez, an icon of Venezuela's socialist revolution who went on to serve as a diplomat in top government posts, has died.
Rodriguez had served as ambassador to Cuba since 2014. He passed away in Havana on Monday at the age of 81, Venezuela's state TV network said.
Among stages of his storied career, Rodriguez oversaw the mass firing of thousands of workers at Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA. He also defended the sharply anti-American foreign policy of the socialist governments of late President Hugo Chavez and current President Nicolas Maduro.
"His experience and honesty were a school for all of us," Maduro said on Twitter, calling Rodriguez, "a tireless fighter" who was "indispensable to the revolution."
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