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, consequently, president of Cuba, since February 24, 2008, although he had been acting in this role 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, succeeding his brother Fidel in this position as well.
Son of the Lucense citizen Ángel Castro Argiz, he is the youngest of the three Castro brothers. Like Fidel, Raúl later attended the Jesuit College of Dolores in Santiago de Cuba and the Belén College in Havana. The brothers actively participated in student demonstrations. Raúl was a staunch communist and joined the Socialist Youth, affiliated with the Cuban Communist Party, which at that time was known as the Popular Socialist Party (PSP).
Cuban Revolution (1953-59)
Raúl Castro, on the left, with Che Guevara in 1958.
Along with his brother, he was one of the members of the July 26 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 had the mission to support the actions from the rooftop of the Courthouse of that city, a mission he accomplished. He was later arrested following the events and sentenced to 13 years in prison. After being granted amnesty, he exiled himself in Mexico, where he participated in the preparations for the expedition of the Granma yacht, 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 travels through Eastern Bloc countries. This relationship would last until the Castro brothers came to 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 assigned the mission of crossing the former province of Oriente, leading a column of guerrillas to open the Eastern Front "Frank País" (in honor of a clandestine leader assassinated by Batista's forces in Santiago de Cuba) to the northeast. On that front, Raúl organized and structured a true government in the liberated territories, even creating the Rebel Air Force, as well as the first intelligence and police institutions of the revolutionaries, along with departments for health, education, and more.
Post-revolutionary period (1959-2006)
In 1961, he became a part of the National Directorate of Integrated Revolutionary Organizations. Following Che Guevara's departure, he became the second political figure in the government. He participated in the leadership of the United Party of the Socialist Revolution (PURS) in 1963. He was responsible for the investigation, accusation, and prosecution of the members of the so-called "micro-fraction" within the Communist Party. From 1980 onwards, 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.
As the 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 secretaryship of the PCC, and the chief command of the Armed Forces, while his brother recovered from an intestinal surgical intervention.
During the time Raúl temporarily led Cuba, there were noticeable slight increases in the economy, and a massive debate he himself incited regarding the nation's problems that resulted in public proposals from the population starting on July 26, 2007.
In these discussions, over 5 million proposals from the public 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 as the President of Cuba, who had resigned a few days earlier through an open letter.
New measures and changes in Cuban policy
..."In December, I spoke about the excess of 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, 20081
Fulfilling what was expressed in February 2008, Raúl Castro began to lift various legal barriers that limited the people, such as free access to hotels and car rentals, or allowing the unrestricted sale of mobile phones. In his 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, which took place in March 2009 with the merging of several ministries and the replacement of nearly 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 dealt a severe blow to the Cuban economy, characterized as the worst natural disaster in its history. This resulted in food shortages across the country and the implementation of strict measures to control any attempts at hoarding or speculation of goods and food
Since September 2008, the Cuban government decided to grant farmers usufruct rights to idle land. By December 2009, 920,000 hectares of land had been allocated in a process that is not without difficulties and delays
In January 2009, the Social Security Law was reformed, raising the retirement age to 60 for women and 65 for men. This year, the wage cap has also been eliminated, multi-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, have been closing down, 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 problems have occurred due to the U.S. embargo, which hampers fast connections. This issue 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 Communist Party of Cuba, announced that the ration booklet would be abolished and food assistance would only be granted to retirees and individuals with low incomes.
By the end of October 2010, the Cuban government has authorized 178 private activities, aiming to transition 1 million workers from bureaucratic jobs to productive roles, both public and private, within a timeframe of three to five years.
In April 2011, he was elected as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba at the Sixth Congress, where economic reforms were established to adapt the system to the new economic events 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 Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in 2009.
From the early moments of his provisional government, Raúl Castro began to reassess relations with nations like 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 start talks with the United States in order to end the diplomatic restrictions between the two nations, which would mark a definitive blow to the policy of rejecting everything American. The only condition set by the Cuban government is that the U.S. must not impose any conditions to initiate such dialogue.
In a recent interview with American actor Sean Penn, he expressed that he was open to a dialogue with elected President Barack Obama, and that this interview could even take place on the grounds 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 de Bahia. This summit provided the framework for 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 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. Thus, he ended his role as President of the Council of State but remained in his position as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba.
Family
Raúl was married to Vilma Espín from the early days of the Cuban Revolution until her passing (June 18, 2007). They have four children from this marriage: Deborah, Mariela, Nilsa, and Alejandro.
