Cuban exile bishop (87) dies in Los Teques

www.vheadline.com Posted: Wednesday, March 19, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Auxiliary Bishop of Los Teques, Monsignor Eduardo Boza Masvidal has died at the age of 87. The Cuban prelate was expelled from his country a few years after the 1957 Revolution, accused of anti-revolutionary activities and creating a disturbance during a procession of Cuban religious patroness, Our Lady of Copper.

Boza Masvidal spent a year in Spain and Colombia before settling in Venezuela in 1962.

In Los Teques, he was appointed Vicar General of the diocese in 1969. Although the bishop was careful not to express political views openly, it is known that he helped to found the Cuban Union in Exile. He was known as a humble and devout person, free of bitterness and hatred and was able to return to Cuba twice for short visits.

According to the Bishop of Los Teques, Monsignor Ovidio Perez Morales, the prelate was concerned about the political situation in Venezuela and hoped that it would not turn into another Cuba. Maintaining strong links with Cuban exiles in Miami, Boza Masvidal had written frequently about the role of the Church in Venezuela's political crisis.