Raúl Castro

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This article is about the former First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba and former President of Cuba. For the former Governor of Arizona, see Raúl Héctor Castro. For other people, see Raúl Castro (disambiguation).
Raúl Castro
Raul-castro-05.jpg
First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba
In office
19 April 2011 – 19 April 2021
President Himself
Miguel Díaz-Canel
Prime Minister Manuel Marrero (since 2019)
Deputy José Ramón Machado
Preceded by Fidel Castro
Succeeded by Miguel Díaz-Canel
President of the Council of State and Ministers of Cuba
In office
24 February 2008 – 19 April 2018
Acting: 31 July 2006 – 24 February 2008
Vice President José Ramón Machado
Miguel Díaz-Canel
Preceded by Fidel Castro
Succeeded by Miguel Díaz-Canel
Second Secretary of the
Communist Party of Cuba
In office
3 October 1965 – 19 April 2011
First secretary Fidel Castro
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by José Ramón Machado
First Vice President of Cuba
In office
2 December 1976 – 24 February 2008
President Fidel Castro
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by José Ramón Machado
Minister of Defence
In office
16 February 1959 – 24 February 2008
Prime Minister Fidel Castro
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by Julio Casas Regueiro
Secretary-General of the
Non-Aligned Movement
In office
16 September 2006 – 16 July 2009
Acting: 16 September 2006 – 24 February 2008
Preceded by Fidel Castro
Succeeded by Hosni Mubarak
President pro tempore of CELAC
In office
28 January 2013 – 28 January 2014
Preceded by Sebastián Piñera
Succeeded by Laura Chinchilla
Personal details
Born Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz
(1931-06-03) 3 June 1931 (age 92)
Birán, Cuba
Political party Popular Socialist Party (Before 1953)
26th of July Movement (1953–1965)
Communist Party (1965–present)
Spouse(s) Vilma Espín (m. 1959; d. 2007)
Children 4 (Mariela, Alejandro, Deborah, Nilsa)
Signature Raúl Castro's signature
Military service
Allegiance Republic of Cuba
Service/branch 20px Revolutionary Armed Forces
Years of service 1953–59
Rank Comandante en jefe.jpg Comandante en Jefe (as President)
General de Ejército[1]
Unit 26th of July Movement
Battles/wars Cuban Revolution
Bay of Pigs Invasion
Cuban Missile Crisis
Awards Hero of the Republic of Cuba[2]
Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise[3]
National Order of Mali[4]
Order of the Quetzal[5]
Order Prince Daniel of Good Faith First Degree[6]

Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz (/ˈkæstroʊ/;[7] American Spanish: [raˈul moˈðesto ˈkastɾo ˈrus]; born June 3, 1931) is a retired Cuban politician and communist revolutionary who served as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most senior position in the one-party communist state,[8] from 2011 to 2021, succeeding his brother, Fidel Castro.

Castro has also been a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Cuba, the highest decision-making body, since 1975. He served as the minister of the Armed Forces from 1959 to 2008. His ministerial tenure made him the longest-serving minister of the armed forces. Because of his brother's illness, Castro became the acting president of the Council of State in a temporary transfer of power from July 31, 2006.

Castro was officially made president by the National Assembly on 24 February 2008, after his brother, who was still ailing, announced on 19 February 2008 that he would not stand again. He was re-elected president on 24 February 2013. Shortly thereafter, Castro announced that his second term would be his final term, and that he would not seek re-election in 2018.[9][10] He stepped down from the presidency on 19 April 2018 after his successor, Miguel Díaz-Canel was elected by the National Assembly following parliamentary elections. Castro remained the first secretary of the Communist Party until 16 April 2021 when he announced at the Eighth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba that he was stepping down,[8][11] is head of the constitutional reform commission,[12] and also continues to have a seat representing Santiago de Cuba's Segundo Frente municipality in the National Assembly.[13] As First Secretary of the Communist Party he was still considered the de facto leader of the country, retaining oversight over Cuba's president.[14]

Castro announced at the Eighth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba, which began on 16 April 2021, that he was stepping down as leader of the Communist Party of Cuba. His successor, Miguel Díaz-Canel, was voted in on 19 April 2021.[15]

Early life

Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz was born in Birán, Cuba, the son of a Spanish immigrant father, Ángel Castro, and a Cuban-born mother of Canarian parentage, Lina Ruz. Raúl is the youngest of three brothers: Ramón, Fidel and himself.[16] He also has four sisters: Angela, Juanita, Emma and Agustina. Ángel Castro's first wife, Maria Argota, also raised five half-siblings of Raúl: Pedro Emilio, Maria Lidia, Manuel, Antonia and Georgina.

As children, the Castro brothers were expelled from the first school they attended. Like Fidel, Raúl later attended the Jesuit School of Colegio Dolores in Santiago and Belen Jesuit Preparatory School (Spanish: Colegio Belén) in Havana. Raúl, as an undergraduate, studied social sciences. Whereas Fidel excelled as a student, Raúl turned in mostly mediocre performances.[17] Raúl became a committed socialist and joined the Socialist Youth, an affiliate of the Soviet-oriented Cuban Communist Party, Partido Socialista Popular (PSP).[18][19] The brothers participated actively in sometimes violent student actions.[20]

Raúl Castro's travels and contact with Soviet KGB agent Nikolai Leonov — whom he met in 1953 during a trip to the Soviet-bloc nations and again in 1955 during his exile in Mexico City — facilitated Cuba's close ties with the Soviets after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution. Leonov would later become the USSR's KGB agent in Havana.[18]

In 1953, Raúl served as a member of the 26th of July Movement group that attacked the Moncada Barracks; he spent 22 months in prison as a result of this action.[21][22] During his exile in Mexico, he participated in the preparations for the expedition of the boat Granma to Cuba.

Commander in the Cuban Revolution

Raúl Castro (left), with his arm around second-in-command, Ernesto "Che" Guevara, in their Sierra de Cristal mountain stronghold in Oriente Province, Cuba, 1958
Raúl Castro with Salvador Allende, 1959
File:Raúl, Vilma, Jorge Risquet y José Nivaldo Causse.jpg
Raúl Castro, Vilma Espín, Jorge Risquet y José Nivaldo Causse

When the Granma landing failed and the 82 expeditionaries were detected by government troops soon after, Raúl was one of only 12 fighters who managed to reach a safe haven in the Sierra Maestra mountains, forming the core of the nascent rebel army (see the Cuban Revolution). As Fidel's brother and trusted right-hand man, and given his proven leadership abilities during and after the Moncada attack, he was given progressively bigger commands. On 27 February 1958 Raúl was made comandante and assigned the mission to cross the old province of Oriente leading a column of guerrillas to open, to the northeast of that territory, the "Frank País Eastern Front".

As a result of Raúl's "Eastern Front" operations, he was not involved in the pivotal Operation Verano (which came close to destroying the main body of fighters but ended up a spectacular victory for Fidel), but Raúl's forces remained active and grew over time.

On 26 June 1958, Raúl Castro's rebels kidnapped ten Americans and two Canadians from the property of Moa Bay Mining Company (an American company) on the north coast of Oriente Province. The next day rebels took hostage 24 US servicemen on leave from the United States naval base at Guantanamo Bay. This incident brought total kidnapped hostages to 36 (34 US and 2 Canadian citizens).

US Ambassador Smith and his staff determined the kidnappings had the following objectives: Obtain worldwide publicity, regain M-26-7 prestige lost by general strike call failure, force Batista's Air Force to stop bombing rebel holds, and gain public recognition from the US. Two tactical objectives the kidnapping achieved for Castro forces can be discerned from contemporaneous reporting in Time: Batista declaring a ceasefire for negotiations, forcing a reduction in Operation Verano air raids; the rebels used the lulls to regroup and fly in arms.

The hostage-taking caused significant US backlash, including unfavorable public reaction, and US consideration to re-establishing military support to Batista and deploying US forces to free the hostages. Ultimately, the hostages were released in very small groups, extracting the maximum press attention.[23] After their release, the hostages said they were treated well with some even claiming to support the rebel cause.[24]

Regarding the captured Batista government soldiers, Raúl Castro notes in his war diaries: "All three were brought food and told that they would be released and only their weapons would be kept. They had money and watches we needed, but according to our principles, we didn't touch them. In the territories under guerrilla control, it created an autonomous structure by establishing hospitals, schools and several material manufacturing plants. In 1958, he was also at the origin of the M-26 intelligence services.[25]

By October 1958, after reinforcement by Fidel, the brothers had about 2,000 fighters and were operating freely throughout Oriente province. In December, while Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos were operating in Santa Clara, Fidel and Raúl's army laid siege to Maffo, capturing it on 30 December. Their victorious army then headed to Santiago de Cuba, capital of Oriente province.

In response to the victory by Che Guevara at the Battle of Santa Clara, the U.S.-backed President Fulgencio Batista fled Cuba in the early morning of 1 January 1959.[26] The two Castro brothers with their army arrived on the outskirts of Santiago de Cuba and said their forces would storm the city at 6 PM 1 January if it did not first surrender. The commander (Colonel Rego Rubido) surrendered Santiago de Cuba without a fight. The war was over and Fidel was able to take power in Havana when he arrived on 8 January 1959.

Raúl's abilities as a military leader during the revolution are hard to see clearly. Unlike Che Guevara or Cienfuegos, Raúl had no significant victories he could claim credit for on his own. The last operations (which were clearly successful) were conducted with his older brother Fidel present (and in command).[27] After Batista's fall, Raúl had the task of overseeing trials and execution of scores (between 30 and 70) of soldiers loyal to deposed president Batista convicted of war crimes.[28]

Political career

Early political career

Raúl Castro Ruiz was a member of the national leadership of the Integrated Revolutionary PO Organizations (established July 1961; dissolved March 1962) and of the United Party of the Socialist Revolution of Cuba (established March 1962; dissolved October 1965). He is also credited with helping shoot down a Lockheed U2 and killing Major Rudolf Anderson.[29]

He served as a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and Second Secretary of its Politburo from the Party's formation in October 1965; also as First Vice President of the Cuban Council of State of the National Assembly of People's Power and Council of Ministers when these were established in 1976. He was appointed Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces when it was founded in October 1959 and served in that capacity until February 2008.[citation needed]

Assumption of presidential duties

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See also: 2006–2008 Cuban transfer of presidential duties
File:Dmitry Medvedev in Cuba 28 November 2008-3.jpg
Castro with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, 28 November 2008

On 31 July 2006, Fidel Castro's personal secretary, Carlos Valenciaga, announced on state-run television that Fidel Castro would provisionally hand over the duties of First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba (party chief), President of the Council of State of Cuba (head of state), President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba (prime minister), and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to Raúl Castro while Fidel underwent and recovered from intestinal surgery to repair gastrointestinal bleeding.[30][31]

Many[quantify] commentators regarded Raúl Castro as a political hardliner who would maintain the Communist Party of Cuba's influence in the country. However, others believed that he was more pragmatic than his older brother and willing to institute some market-oriented economic policies. It was speculated[by whom?] that he favored a variant of the current Chinese and Vietnamese political and economic model for Cuba in the hopes of preserving some elements of the socialist system.[28]

Raúl is considered by some[who?] as less charismatic than his brother Fidel Castro, who remained largely out of public view during the transfer-of-duty period.[32] His few public appearances included hosting a gathering of leaders of the Non-Aligned nations in September 2006, and leading the national commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the landing of the boat Granma, which also became Fidel's belated 80th-birthday celebrations.[33][34]

In a speech to university students, Raúl stated that a communist system in Cuba would remain, and that "Fidel is irreplaceable, unless we all replace him together."[35]

On 1 May 2007 Raúl presided over the May Day celebrations in Havana. According to Granma the crowd reached over one million participants, with delegations from over 225 organizations and 52 countries.[36]

Raúl has a reputation for his businesslike, unanimated delivery of speeches.[37]

Communist leader

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See also: Cuba under Raúl Castro
Raúl Castro with Hugo Chávez, 2010
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner meets Raúl Castro in Cuba during a state visit in January 2009

After assuming what was envisioned[by whom?] as a temporary control over the presidency in 2006, on 24 February 2008 Raúl Castro won election as the new President of the Council of State and President of the Council of Ministers during a legislative session held at Cuba's Palace of Conventions in Havana. The 597 deputies unanimously elected a 31-member Council of State for a term of five years, which in turn elected Raúl as president.[38] His administration subsequently announced several economic reforms. In March 2008 the government removed restrictions on the purchase of numerous products not available under Fidel Castro's administration - including DVD-players, computers, rice cookers and microwaves.[39] In an effort to boost food production, the government allowed private farmers and cooperatives to lease idle state-owned land and moved much of the decision-making process regarding land use from the national level to the municipal level.[40]

All death sentences (about 30) are commuted between 2008 and 2010, although none had been executed since 2003.[41]

In mid-2008 the government overhauled the salary structure of all state-run companies so that harder-working employees could earn higher wages.[42] In addition, the government removed restrictions against the use of cell phones and investigated the removal of travel restrictions on Cubans.[39]

In March 2009 Raúl Castro dismissed some officials.

In April 2011 Raúl announced a plan of 300 economic reforms encouraging private initiative, reducing state spending, encouraging foreign investment and agrarian reforms. He also announced a limitation on presidential terms, including his own.

On 24 February 2013 Cuba's parliament named Raúl Castro to a new five-year term as president and appointed Miguel Díaz-Canel as his first vice president. Castro announced that day that he would step down from power after his second term as president ended in 2018.[43]

In 2018 he was selected as a candidate for the National Assembly of People's Power by the Segundo Frente municipality in Santiago de Cuba, regarded[by whom?] as the cradle of the Cuban Revolution.[44]

Miguel Díaz-Canel took over as President of Cuba (President of the Council of State) on 19 April 2018. Raúl Castro remains First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (in office since 19 April 2011).

Normalization of relations with the United States

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See also: United States–Cuban Thaw
Raúl Castro with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, 2008
President Castro meets with Barack Obama in Havana, 22 March 2016

Raúl Castro said in a 2008 interview: "The American people are among our closest neighbors. We should respect each other. We have never held anything against the American people. Good relations would be mutually advantageous. Perhaps we cannot solve all of our problems, but we can solve a good many of them."[45]

On 10 December 2013, Castro, in a significant move, shook hands with and greeted American President Barack Obama at the Nelson Mandela memorial service in Johannesburg.[46]

On 17 December 2014, Castro and Obama made separate announcements that efforts to normalize relations between the two nations would begin with the re-establishment of embassies in Havana and Washington. The embassies had previously been dissolved in 1961 after Cuba became closely allied with the USSR.[47][48]

The rapprochement between the U.S. and Cuba was facilitated by Argentine-born Pope Francis, who allowed the Vatican to be used for secret negotiations. There were simultaneous public announcements by Castro and Obama about the progress toward normalization.[49]

On 20 July 2015, Cuba and the United States officially resumed full diplomatic relations with sections of "Cuban interests" in Washington, D.C., and "U.S. interests" in Havana upgraded to embassies.[50]

On 20 March 2016, Obama made a visit to Cuba to meet with Castro. It was the first visit of a sitting U.S. president to Cuba in 88 years.[51]

Speaking in 2017, Raúl Castro was highly critical of Donald Trump's proposition of Mexican wall and restrictive trade policy. He called his plans egotistical and for the border, irrational. "You can't contain poverty, catastrophes and migrants with walls, but with cooperation, understanding and peace," Castro said.[52] The U.S. President-elect also targeted Raúl in a tweet, saying, "If Cuba is unwilling to make a better deal for the Cuban people, the Cuban/American people and the U.S. as a whole, I will terminate deal".[53]

Raúl Castro surprised a top American envoy in September 2017 while discussing recent sonic attacks on American diplomatic staff. He denied involvement but allowed FBI rare access to investigate the incident that has left 21 people with hearing loss and brain damage.[54]

Public and personal life

Castro married Vilma Espín, a former Massachusetts Institute of Technology chemical engineering student and the daughter of a wealthy lawyer for the Bacardi rum company, on 26 January 1959.[55] Vilma became president of the Cuban Federation of Women.[56] They have three daughters (Déborah, Mariela and Nilsa) and one son (Alejandro) Castro Espín.[57]

Their daughter Mariela Castro currently heads the Cuban National Center for Sex Education, while Déborah is married to Colonel Luis Alberto Rodríguez, head of the Armed Forces' economic division.[58] Vilma Espín died on 18 June 2007; a daughter and some relatives of Raúl are believed to reside in Italy.[citation needed]

In an interview in 2006, following his assumption of presidential duties, Raúl Castro commented on his public profile stating: "I am not used to making frequent appearances in public, except at times when it is required ... I have always been discreet, that is my way, and in passing I will clarify that I am thinking of continuing in that way".[59]

In an interview with actor Sean Penn, Raúl Castro was described as "warm, open, energetic and sharp of wit".[45]

After a meeting with Pope Francis in Vatican City on 10 May 2015, Castro said that he would conditionally consider returning to the Roman Catholic Church.[60] He said in a televised news conference, "I read all the speeches of the pope, his commentaries, and if the pope continues this way, I will go back to praying and go back to the [Roman Catholic] church. I am not joking."[49] The pope visited Cuba before his September 2015 visit to the United States. Castro said: "I promise to go to all his Masses and with satisfaction," when Pope Francis visited Cuba in 2015.[61]

Honours and awards

References

Citations

  1. ↑ http://apnews.com/article/fidel-castro-miguel-diaz-canel-raul-castro-cuba-be9643a492b1803b67e29c8de467f7e9
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ "Castro". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/16/raul-castro-cuba-communist-party-resigning
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Pierre Kalfon, Che, 1997
  25. ↑ https://operamundi.uol.com.br/politica-e-economia/33272/50-verdades-sobre-raul-castro
  26. ↑ Audio: Cuba Marks 50 Years Since 'Triumphant Revolution' by Jason Beaubien, NPR All Things Considered, 1 January 2009
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Marc Frank, "Raúl Castro Overhauls Cuba's Farm Bureaucracy", Reuters News, 1 May 2008.
  41. ↑ http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2010/12/29/97001-20101229FILWWW00242-cuba-derniere-peine-de-mort-commuee.php
  42. ↑ Frances Robles, "Cubans Who Work More Will Get Higher Salaries", Miami Herald, 12 June 2008.
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  49. ↑ 49.0 49.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  50. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ Korte, Gregory (March 21, 2016) "Obama meets Cuban President Raúl Castro", USA Today. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
  52. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  53. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  54. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  55. ↑ "Raul Castro Visited New Housing Project in Santiago de Cuba" Cuban News Agency via Cuban Radio Archived 27 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 11 February 2009 from mathaba.net.
  56. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  57. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[permanent dead link]
  58. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  59. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  60. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  61. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Sources

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External links

Political offices
New office Minister of Defence
1959–2008		 Succeeded by
Julio Casas Regueiro
First Vice President of Cuba
1976–2008		 Succeeded by
José Ramón Machado Ventura
Preceded by President of Cuba
Acting: 2006–2008
2008–2018		 Succeeded by
Miguel Díaz-Canel
Party political offices
New office Second Secretary of the Communist Party
1965–2011		 Succeeded by
José Ramón Machado Ventura
Preceded by First Secretary of the Communist Party
Acting: 2006–2011
2011–present		 Incumbent
Military offices
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces
Acting: 2006–2008
2006–present		 Incumbent
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement
2006–2009		 Succeeded by
Hosni Mubarak
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