The Cuban state television broadcast this Friday, seemingly unaware of what it was revealing, an image that encapsulates the real architecture of power in Cuba: Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, nicknamed "El Cangrejo", head of Raúl Castro's personal security, was seen sitting among the members of the Politburo during a meeting of the regime's top leadership led by Miguel Díaz-Canel at the Central Committee headquarters in Havana.
The meeting, captured by Canal Caribe around 6:30 in the morning on Friday, included the Political Bureau, the Secretariat of the Central Committee, and the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers. Raúl Guillermo, 41 years old and a lieutenant colonel in the Ministry of the Interior (MININT), is not a member of the Political Bureau nor holds any official position in the Party or the Cuban Government.
Sebastián Arcos, interim director of the Cuban Studies Institute at Florida International University (FIU), analyzed the live images and was emphatic.
"The presence of Raúl Guillermo in the Political Bureau, despite not being a member of it, is crucial for understanding the real power dynamics in Cuba. He is there, and the image should be viewed carefully; he is watching Díaz-Canel with great attention to see if Díaz-Canel continues to follow the script he has been given. He will report back to his grandfather immediately on what transpired in that meeting."
Díaz-Canel himself, perhaps unknowingly, confirmed this interpretation during his appearance. Referring to the negotiations with the United States, he stated that they are led by Raúl Castro and himself. For Arcos, that phrase says it all: "In that sentence, he definitely defined the real power of Cuba. He defined it himself."
Arcos was even more direct: "The real power in Cuba is in the hands of Raúl Castro, not the president of the republic or the first secretary of the party. In the end, the one who calls the shots is Raúl Castro, retired and without an official position. It doesn’t matter. He is the one still in charge."
The crab on stage
Raúl Guillermo is the grandson of Raúl Castro through his mother, Débora Castro Espín, and the son of the late General Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja, who presided over GAESA —the military conglomerate that controls between 30% and 40% of the Cuban economy— until his death in July 2022.
Since 2016, he has been at the helm of the General Directorate of Personal Security (DGSP), which gives him absolute control over physical access to the elderly leader, who is 94 years old. His nickname comes from being born with polydactyly—six fingers on each hand—although he underwent surgery in his adolescence.
The appearance of the Crab in that room is not an isolated incident. Since February 2026, reports from Axios and Miami Herald reveal that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been holding secret talks with him — including a meeting in Saint Kitts during the CARICOM summit — regarding the future of Cuba, bypassing the official channels of Díaz-Canel. An official from the Trump administration described these contacts as "surprisingly friendly conversations."
The meeting on Friday took place during a time of intense internal pressure: Havana had accumulated seven consecutive days of pots and pans protests and nighttime demonstrations against blackouts lasting up to 21 hours a day, triggered by a malfunction at the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant on March 5th that affected more than six million people. Cubalex reported at least 14 arrests due to these protests.
In that context, Díaz-Canel made a complete 180-degree turn regarding the official stance: until March 10, regime officials denied any negotiations with Washington.
On Friday, he publicly confirmed them and announced the release of 51 prisoners —without labeling them as political prisoners— and the possible visit of the FBI to investigate the incident involving the boat on February 25. For Arcos, these are minimal concessions: "We are practically at ground zero in these negotiations. They have not yielded on anything."
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