Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz (Birán, Holguín, Cuba, June 3, 1931) is a Cuban military officer and politician, the younger brother and collaborator of Fidel Castro. He has been the President of the Council of State of Cuba and, therefore, the President of Cuba, since February 24, 2008, though he served in this role on an interim basis since July 31, 2006. He also holds the military rank of Army General. Since April 2011, he has been the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, also succeeding his brother Fidel in this position.
Son of the Lucense citizen Ángel Castro Argiz, he is the youngest of the three Castro brothers. Like Fidel, Raúl later attended the Jesuit School of Dolores in Santiago de Cuba and the Colegio de Belén in Havana. The brothers actively participated in student demonstrations. Raúl was a convinced communist and joined the Socialist Youth, affiliated with the Cuban Communist Party, then called the Popular Socialist Party (PSP) and aligned with Soviet ideals.
Cuban Revolution (1953-59)
Raúl Castro, on the left, with Che Guevara in 1958.
Together with his brother, he was one of the members of the 26th of July Movement, which carried out the assault on the Moncada Barracks on July 26, 1953, in the city of Santiago de Cuba. During the attack, he was tasked with supporting the actions from the rooftop of the Palace of Justice in that city, a mission he accomplished. He was later arrested and sentenced to 13 years in prison. After being granted amnesty, he went into exile in Mexico, where he participated in the preparations for the Granma yacht expedition, which would land in Cuba in December 1956 after a long journey.
He met Che Guevara in Mexico City and introduced him to Fidel's revolutionary circle. Raúl also contacted KGB agent Nikolai Leonov, whom he had met during his trip through the Eastern bloc nations. This relationship would continue until the Castro brothers seized power in Cuba.
As a fighter in the Rebel Army, he participated in the Sierra Maestra campaign. On February 27, 1958, he was appointed commander and tasked with crossing the former province of Oriente, leading a column of guerrillas to establish the Second Eastern Front "Frank País" (in honor of a leader of the underground movement who was killed by Batista's forces in Santiago de Cuba) to the northeast. In that front, Raúl organized and structured a true government in the liberated territories, even creating the Rebel Air Force along with the initial intelligence and police institutions for the revolutionaries, as well as health and education departments, among others.
Post-revolutionary period (1959-2006)
In 1961, he became a part of the National Directorate of Integrated Revolutionary Organizations. After the departure of Che Guevara, he became the second political figure in the government. He was involved in the leadership of the United Party of the Socialist Revolution (PURS) in 1963. He was responsible for the investigation, prosecution, and trial of the members of the so-called "micro-fraction" within the Communist Party. Beginning in 1980, he undertook supervisory tasks alongside his brother in the Ministries of Defense, Interior, Culture, and Public Health.
Interim government (2006-2008)
Raúl Castro alongside former Brazilian President, Lula.
Constitutional successor to Fidel Castro, on July 31, 2006, his secretary, Carlos Valenciaga, announced that Raúl would temporarily assume the presidency of the Council of State, the secretariat of the PCC, and the chief command of the Armed Forces, while his brother recovered from intestinal surgery.
During the time Raúl temporarily led Cuba, there were noticeable slight increases in the economy, along with the massive debate he himself incited regarding the nation's issues, which led to public expressions by the population starting from July 26, 2007.
In these debates, more than 5 million proposals from citizens were made, serving as a foundation for solving the problems that hinder the development of Cuban society.
Government (since 2008)
On February 24, 2008, he was elected President of the Council of State of Cuba by the Deputies of the National Assembly of People's Power, thus succeeding his brother Fidel Castro in the presidency of Cuba, who had renounced it days earlier through an open letter.
New measures and changes in Cuban policy
..."In December, I spoke about the excessive prohibitions and regulations, and in the coming weeks we will begin to eliminate the simplest ones. Many of them aimed solely to prevent the emergence of new inequalities, at a time of widespread scarcity, even at the cost of forgoing certain revenues." Raúl Castro Ruz February 24, 2008
In accordance with what was stated in February 2008, Raúl Castro started to lift various legal restrictions that limited the people, such as the case of free access to hotels and car rentals or allowing the unrestricted sale of cell phones. In its inaugural session, he requested the National Assembly of People's Power for an extension until the end of 2008 for the restructuring of the Government, a process that took place in March 2009 with the merging of several ministries and the replacement of almost half of the ministers, including the notable Carlos Lage Dávila and Felipe Pérez Roque.
Between September and November 2008, Cuba was hit by hurricanes Gustav, Ike, and Paloma, which caused over ten billion in economic losses. The hurricanes represented a severe blow to the Cuban economy, described as the worst natural disaster in its history. This resulted in food shortages throughout the country and the implementation of strict control measures on any attempts at hoarding or speculation of goods and food
Since September 2008, the Cuban government decided to grant usufruct rights to farmers for idle lands. By December 2009, 920,000 hectares of land had been granted in a process that has faced difficulties and delays
In January 2009, the Social Security Law was reformed, raising the retirement age to 60 for women and 65 for men. Also, this year, the salary cap has been removed, multiple employment has been authorized, and performance-based pay has been reinstated.
Since October 2009, the workers' dining halls, another form of subsidy in the country, were gradually closed, and in their place, workers were given an additional amount of 15 pesos per day for their lunch or snack.
In the same year, 2009, the Castro government allowed Cubans to access the Internet at the country's post offices, although some technical issues have arisen due to the U.S. embargo, which hinders fast connections. This was resolved in 2011 with the completion of a submarine cable between Venezuela and the island
On October 10, 2009, Lázaro Barredo, director of the Granma newspaper of the Cuban Communist Party, announced that the ration book would be eliminated and food assistance granted only to pensioners and individuals with low incomes.
At the end of October 2010, the Cuban government allowed for 178 private activities, with the aim of moving 1 million workers from bureaucratic jobs to productive ones, both public and private, within a timeframe of three to five years.
In April 2011, he was elected First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba at the VI Congress, where economic reforms were established to adapt the system to the new economic developments and the global and national crisis.
On February 24, 2013, the National Assembly of People's Power re-elected Raúl Castro as president of the Council of State.
International relations
Raúl Castro and the Argentine president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in 2009.
From the early moments of his provisional government, Raúl Castro began to reassess relations with nations such as Mexico and Russia, and there was also a noticeable strengthening of ties with China.
In his speech on December 2, 2006, Raúl Castro, then provisional president of Cuba, announced that the Cuban government was willing to initiate discussions with the United States in order to end the diplomatic limitations between the two nations, which represents a definitive blow to the policy of rejecting everything American. The only condition set by the Cuban government is that the U.S. does not impose any conditions to begin such dialogue.
In a recent interview with American actor Sean Penn, he expressed his openness to a dialogue with elected President Barack Obama, suggesting that such a meeting could even take place on the territory of the Guantanamo Naval Base.
In December 2008, Raúl Castro undertook an important international tour that included Venezuela and Brazil. The highlight of his trip was his participation in the I Summit of Latin America and the Caribbean, held in the city of Salvador, Bahia. The framework of this summit facilitated Cuba's entry into the Rio Group.
On February 24, 2013, the National Assembly of People's Power re-elected Raúl Castro as president of the Council of State
On December 17, 2014, he announced, alongside his American counterpart Barack Obama, the restoration of diplomatic relations between the United States of America and the Republic of Cuba.
On April 19, 2018, Miguel Díaz-Canel was elected president by the IX Legislature of the National Assembly of Cuba for the 2018-2023 term. In this way, he ended his role as President of the Council of State but retained his position as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba.
Family
Raúl was married to Vilma Espín from the beginning of the Cuban Revolution until her passing (June 18, 2007). He has four children from this marriage: Deborah, Mariela, Nilsa, and Alejandro.
