Madeleine Albright, historic fighter for democracy

The death of Madeleine Albright leaves the memory of a historic fighter for the recovery of democracy in the countries that made up the Soviet Union. Her death coincides with the war between two of the countries that she had successfully fought to bring out of the oppression of the communist dictatorship, the embers of which still linger in the Kremlin, where one of the protagonists of that period, a former KGB colonel, still governs.

Madaleine Albright knew from an early age what it was like to live under a tyrannical regime. She was only eleven years old when her family managed to escape from Czechoslovakia - now divided - and begin their new life in the freedom of the United States, where they had found refuge. For her, access to an education that was free of any slogans was a decisive factor in her life.

She was 84 years old when cancer took her life on Wednesday, a life marked by her defence of freedoms and her determination to contribute to their enjoyment by all. She won her way into a diplomatic career, then quite difficult, by writing analyses of international relations, then so marked by the influence that the demagogy emanating from the USSR was spreading across the five continents.

The farsightedness that her analyses revealed ended up giving her access to power in such a difficult area as relations in the context of the Cold War. She was US ambassador to the UN and from that post, in which she played an undisputed leading role, she became Secretary of State. She was the first woman to reach this position, one of the most important in the US Administration.

It was during Bill Clinton's presidency and she served from 1997 to 2001. These were complicated times, but especially important for the future that was beginning with the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the return to political and diplomatic normality of the republics that remained under its umbrella, which nullified their sovereignty. She was instrumental in the rapid incorporation of many of them into NATO.

She was a defender of the Atlantic Alliance and she was decisive in its enlargement and adaptation to the new conditions arising from the end of the Cold War. Only one conflict escaped her peace efforts. She left office and her life without achieving another of her most cherished goals, the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian problem.