Melba Hernández, a Confidante of Castro From First Volley

Melba Hernández and Fidel Castro at the 1999 burial of a fellow revolutionary, Jesus Montane, whom she married. Credit Jose Goitia/Associated Press 

 

Ms. Hernández, who became one of the first four members of Mr. Castro’s general staff, and who died at 92 on March 9 in Havana, went on to share many secrets with the man she helped make the Cuban revolution — beginning with its opening volley, an attack on the Moncada army barracks in southeastern Cuba on July 26, 1953.

For her revolutionary services, which included helping to start the Cuban Communist Party, Ms. Hernández was named a national heroine, among many other honors. After the Vietnam War ended on terms most Communists liked, she was her country’s ambassador to the united Vietnam.

Maria Hernández Rodríguez del Rey was born to middle-class parents on July 28, 1921, in the town of Cruces, in west-central Cuba. She earned degrees in law and social sciences from the University of Havana and worked as a customs lawyer for the government after graduating. Like Mr. Castro, she belonged to the Ortodoxo Party, which condemned the Batista government as corrupt and fruitlessly tried to enact peaceful changes.