Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, known as "El Cangrejo," is a prominent member of the Castro elite in Cuba, the grandson of former leader Raúl Castro and the son of Débora Castro Espín and the late General Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja, who headed the powerful military conglomerate GAESA, which controls a significant portion of the Cuban economy and within whose social and economic environment Rodríguez Castro grew up.
In recent years, he has gained notoriety not only for his privileges, luxurious lifestyle, and frequent private trips to Panama and other countries, in stark contrast to the social crisis on the island, but also for his role as a high-ranking state security official and personal bodyguard to Raúl Castro. Recent news indicates that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has maintained discreet contacts with Rodríguez Castro as part of unofficial dialogues aiming to explore potential political changes in Cuba outside of the official channels of the Díaz-Canel regime, which has garnered international media attention. This profile positions him as a power figure directly linked to the core of the Castro family and to the networks of economic and political influence of Castroism, with repercussions both inside and outside the island.
