Raúl Castro | |
---|---|
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 (2019–2021) |
Deputy | JoséRamón Machado |
Preceded by | Fidel Castro |
Succeeded by | Miguel Díaz-Canel |
16th 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 | JoséRamón 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 | JoséRamón Machado |
First Vice President of Cuba | |
In office 2 December 1976 –24 February 2008 | |
President | Fidel Castro |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | JoséRamón 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 3 June 1931 Birán,Cuba |
Political party | Popular Socialist Party (Before 1953) 26th of July Movement (1953–1965) Communist Party (1965–present) |
Spouse | |
Children | 4, including Mariela and Alejandro |
Parent(s) | Lina Ruz (mother) Ángel Castro y Argiz (father) |
Relatives | Fidel Castro (brother) Ramón Castro Ruz (brother) Juanita Castro (sister) |
Signature | |
Nickname(s) | Musito, Muso |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Republic of Cuba |
Branch/service | Revolutionary Armed Forces |
Years of service | 1953–1959 |
Rank | 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 Prince Daniel of Good Faith First Degree [5] |
Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz ( /ˈkæstroʊ/ KASS-troh, [6] Latin American Spanish: [raˈulmoˈðestoˈkastɾoˈrus] ; born 3 June 1931) is a Cuban retired politician and general who served as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most senior position in the one-party communist state, [7] from 2011 to 2021, and President of Cuba between 2008 and 2018, [lower-alpha 1] succeeding his brother Fidel Castro.
One of the military leaders of the Cuban Revolution, Castro 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. Castro was also a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Cuba, the highest decision-making body, from 1965 until 2021. [8]
Because of his brother's illness, Castro became the acting president of the Council of State in a temporary transfer of power from 31 July 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; he was still considered the de facto leader of the country, retaining oversight over the president. [11] Castro announced at the Eighth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba, which began on 16 April 2021, that he was retiring. [12] His successor, Miguel Díaz-Canel, was voted in on 19 April. [13]
Castro was also the head of the constitutional reform commission, [14] and continues to have a seat representing Santiago de Cuba's Segundo Frente municipality in the National Assembly. [15]
Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz was born in Birán, Cuba, the legal son of a Spanish immigrant father, Ángel Castro who was 55 at the time of his birth, 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 legal 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 in Havana. Raúl as an undergraduate studied public administration at the University of Havana, but he did not graduate. 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 Popular Socialist Party, the island's Communist party. [18] The brothers participated actively in sometimes violent student actions. [19]
In 1953, Raúl served as a member of the 26th of July Movement group that attacked the Moncada Barracks; he received a 13-year prison sentence and spent 22 months in prison as a result of this action. [20] [21] During his subsequent exile in Mexico, he participated in the preparations for the expedition of the boat Granma to Cuba.
This section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification .(April 2021) |
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 U.S. servicemen on leave from the United States naval base at Guantanamo Bay. This incident brought total kidnapped hostages to 36 (34 U.S. and 2 Canadian citizens).
U.S. Ambassador Earl E. T. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. backlash, including unfavorable public reaction, and U.S. consideration to re-establishing military support to Batista and deploying U.S. forces to free the hostages. Ultimately, the hostages were released in very small groups, extracting the maximum press attention. [22] After their release, the hostages said they were treated well with some even claiming to support the rebel cause. [23]
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. [24]
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. [25] 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 P.M. on 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. After Batista's fall, Raúl had the task of overseeing trials and execution of between 30 and 70 soldiers loyal to deposed President Batista who had been convicted of war crimes. [26]
Raúl Castro Ruz 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. [27]
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.
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. [28] [29]
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. [26]
Raúl is considered by some[ who? ] to be less charismatic than his brother Fidel Castro, who remained largely out of public view during the transfer-of-duty period. [30] 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. [31] [32]
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." [33]
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. [34]
Raúl has a reputation for his businesslike, unanimated delivery of speeches. [35]
This section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification .(August 2021) |
After assuming what was originally announced 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. 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. [36] 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. [37]
All death sentences (about 30) were commuted between 2008 and 2010, although none had been executed since 2003. [38]
In mid-2008, the government overhauled the salary structure of all state-run companies so that harder-working employees could earn higher wages. [39] In addition, the government removed restrictions against the use of cell phones and investigated the removal of travel restrictions on Cubans. [36]
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. [40]
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. [41]
Miguel Díaz-Canel took over as President of Cuba (President of the Council of State) on 19 April 2018. However, Raúl Castro remained First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, and hence the de facto leader of Cuba, until he resigned on 19 April 2021.
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." [42]
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. [43]
On 17 December 2014 Castro and Obama made separate announcements to the effect that efforts to normalize relations between the two nations would begin with the re-establishment of embassies in Havana and Washington. Direct diplomatic relations had previously ceased in 1961 after Cuba became closely allied with the USSR. [44] [45]
Argentine-born Pope Francis facilitated the rapprochement between the U.S. and Cuba, allowing the Vatican to be used for secret negotiations. Castro and Obama made simultaneous public announcements about the progress toward normalization. [46]
On 20 July 2015 Cuba and the United States officially resumed full diplomatic relations with the sections of "Cuban interests" in Washington, D.C., and "U.S. interests" in Havana upgraded to embassies. [47]
On 20 March 2016 Obama made a visit to Cuba to meet with Castro - the first visit of a sitting U.S. president to Cuba in 88 years. [48]
Speaking in 2017, Castro criticized U.S. President Donald Trump's proposition of the Mexican wall and restrictive trade policy. Castro called Trump's 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. [49] In November 2016 Trump (as U.S. President-elect) 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". [50]
Castro surprised a top American envoy in September 2017 while discussing sonic attacks on American diplomatic staff. He denied involvement but allowed FBI rare access to investigate the incident that allegedly left 21 people with hearing loss and brain damage. [51]
In September 2019 the United States sanctioned Castro and barred him from entering the U.S. due to Cuba's support of the Nicolás Maduro government in Venezuela during the presidential crisis and alleged human-rights abuses caused by the government. [52]
On 16 April 2021, the 8th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba assembled for a four-day meeting, [53] marking the start of Castro's final transfer of leadership and retirement from politics. [54] Miguel Díaz-Canel was elected Castro's successor as First Secretary of the Communist Party on 19 April 2021. [55]
Castro continues to hold a seat in the National Assembly [56] and makes occasional public appearances and speeches, most recently at the celebration of the 65th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution on 1 January 2024. [57]
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. [58] Vilma became president of the Cuban Federation of Women. [59] They have three daughters (Déborah, Mariela, and Nilsa) and one son (Alejandro) Castro Espín. [60] Vilma Espín died on 18 June 2007. [61]
Alejandro is a Colonel in the Ministry of the Interior, as director of the office of Intelligence Coordination between MININT and MINFAR, with full oversight and access to all of the activities of the Intelligence services. Most foreign analysts consider him to be the "czar" of Cuban Intelligence and Raul's link to maintaining control over MININT, balancing it with his own control of MINFAR. He is widely viewed as Raul's most trusted advisor and is likely being prepared for a future leadership role. [62] Their daughter Mariela Castro currently heads the Cuban National Center for Sex Education, while Déborah is married to Colonel Luis Alberto Rodríguez, head of GAESA, the Armed Forces' economic division. He is widely regarded as one of the most powerful figures in the Cuban Economy due to the Military's hold on most of the lucrative business sectors. [63] Deborah's son, Raul Guillermo, nicknamed El Cangrejo (The Crab) due to a malformed finger, is Raul's current chief bodyguard. [64]
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." [65]
In an interview with actor Sean Penn, Castro was described as "warm, open, energetic, and sharp of wit". [42] However, Juan Reynaldo Sanchez, a defected bodyguard for Fidel who knew Raul well, wrote later that his warm public exterior was a carefully maintained façade; In private, he found him to be "rough, curt, almost unpleasant" with a dubious sense of humor. [66] Nevertheless, though, Sanchez considered Raul the true "architect" of the Castroist system, despite having a polar opposite personality to Fidel. Whereas Fidel was "charismatic, energetic, visionary but extremely impulsive and totally disorganized", Raul was described as a "natural, methodical, and uncompromising organizer". [67]
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. [68] 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." [46] The pope visited Cuba before his September 2015 visit to the United States. Castro said: "I promise to go to all his Masses" when Pope Francis visited Cuba in 2015. [69] Castro considered Christ a communist stating, "I think that's why they killed Jesus, for being a communist, for doing what Fidel defined as revolution... changing the situation." [70]
Castro retired as Communist Party leader on 19 April 2021. [71]
In the 1969 American film Che! , Castro was played by Paul Bertoya. In the 2002 film Fidel , he was played by Maurice Comte. In the 2008 American biographical film Che , he was played by Rodrigo Santoro. [ citation needed ] He is mentioned as "Fidel Castro's brother" in the Billy Bragg song, "Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards".
This section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification .(April 2021) |
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 2008. Ideologically a Marxist–Leninist and Cuban nationalist, he also served as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1965 until 2011. Under his administration, Cuba became a one-party communist state; industry and business were nationalized, and socialist reforms were implemented throughout society.
Granma is a yacht that was used to transport 82 fighters of the Cuban Revolution from Mexico to Cuba in November 1956 to overthrow the regime of Fulgencio Batista. The 60-foot diesel-powered vessel was built in 1943 by Wheeler Shipbuilding of Brooklyn, New York, as a light armored target practice boat, US Navy C-1994, and modified postwar to accommodate 12 people. "Granma", in English, is an affectionate term for a grandmother; the yacht is said to have been named for the previous owner's grandmother.
The president of Cuba, officially the president of the Republic of Cuba, is the head of state of Cuba. The office in its current form was established under the Constitution of 2019. The President is the second-highest office in Cuba and the highest state office. Miguel Díaz-Canel became President of the Council of State on 19 April 2018, taking over from Raúl Castro, and has been President of Cuba since 10 October 2019.
Huber Matos Benítez was a Cuban military leader, political dissident, activist, and writer. He opposed the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista from its inception in 1952 and fought alongside Fidel Castro, Raul Castro, Che Guevara, Camilo Cienfuegos and other members of the 26th of July Movement to overthrow it. Following the success of the Cuban Revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power, he criticized the regime's shift in favor of Marxist principles and ties to the Popular Socialist Party (PSP). Convicted of treason and sedition by the revolutionary government, he spent 20 years in prison (1959–1979) before being released in 1979. He then divided his time between Miami, Florida, and Costa Rica while continuing to protest the policies of the Cuban government.
Corps General Abelardo Colomé Ibarra was a Vice President of the Council of State of Cuba and the Cuban Minister of the Interior, serving in the latter position from 1989, until his retirement in October, 2015. Known as Furry he first laid the foundations of State Security in 1959.
Juan Almeida Bosque was a Cuban politician and one of the original commanders of the insurgent forces in the Cuban Revolution. After the rebels took power in 1959, he was a prominent figure in the Communist Party of Cuba. At the time of his death, he was a Vice-President of the Cuban Council of State and was its third ranking member. He received several decorations, and national and international awards, including the title of "Hero of the Republic of Cuba" and the Order of Máximo Gómez.
Ramiro Valdés Menéndez is a Cuban politician. He became a Government Vice President in the 2009 shake-up by Raúl Castro.
The Cuban Revolution was the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista's regime by the 26th of July Movement and the establishment of a new Cuban government led by Fidel Castro in 1959.
José Ramón Machado Ventura is a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the First Vice President of the Council of State of Cuba from 2008 to 2013. With the election of Raúl Castro as President of Cuba on 24 February 2008, Machado was elected to succeed him as First Vice President, serving until 2013. He was elected Second Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba in 2011.
Norberto Collado Abreu was the Cuban captain and helmsman of the yacht Granma, which brought Fidel Castro and 81 other rebels to Cuba from Tuxpan, Veracruz, Mexico, in 1956. The 1956 landing of Castro from the Granma in eastern Cuba began the Cuban Revolution which resulted in the termination of President Fulgencio Batista's government in 1959.
The Order of José Martí is a state honor in Cuba. The Order was named so after José Martí, the national hero of Cuba. The design was realized by the Cuban sculptor José Delarra.
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Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez is a Cuban politician and engineer who is the 8th and current First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba since 2021, and as well as the 17th President of Cuba since 2019. As First Secretary, he is the most powerful person in the Cuban government. Díaz-Canel succeeds the brothers Fidel and Raúl Castro, making him the first non-Castro leader of Cuba since the revolution, and as well as the first non-Castro President since 1976.
The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba is the top leader of Cuba. The First Secretary is the highest office within the Communist Party of Cuba as well as ranking first in the Politburo, the highest decision-making body in Cuba, which makes the office holder the most powerful person in the Cuban government. In communist states the First or General Secretary of the Communist Party is typically the de facto leader of the country and a more powerful position than state offices such as President or Prime Minister, when those positions are held by different individuals.
The Communist Party of Cuba is the sole ruling party of Cuba. It was founded on 3 October 1965 as the successor to the United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution, which was in turn made up of the 26th of July Movement and Popular Socialist Party that seized power in Cuba after the 1959 Cuban Revolution. The party governs Cuba as an authoritarian one-party state where dissidence and political opposition are prohibited and repressed. The Cuban constitution ascribes the role of the party to be the "leading force of society and of the state".
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Events in the year 2018 in Cuba.
Fidel Ángel Castro Díaz-Balart was a Cuban nuclear physicist and government official. Frequently known by the diminutive Fidelito, he was the eldest son of Cuban leader Fidel Castro and his first wife, Mirta Díaz-Balart.
This article covers events in the year 2021 in Cuba.
I confirm to this assembly that Raul Castro, as first secretary of the Communist Party, will lead the decisions about the future of the country,' Diaz-Canel said.
The 86-year-old former guerrilla remains head of Cuba's Communist Party, a position that leaves him with broad authority — including much oversight of the man who is replacing him as president.
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