Born
June 3 1931
Pre–1959
Son
of Spanish immigrant Ángel Castro and Lina Ruz, a Cuban woman
of Galician ancestry, Raúl is the youngest of the three Castro
brothers. He also has four sisters, Angela, Juanita, Enma, and Agustina,
and two half siblings, Lidia and Pedro Emilio, who were raised by
Ángel Castro's first wife. Persistent rumors supported by
former CIA analyst Brian Latell are taken to suggest that Batista
army loyalist Felipe Miraval, nicknamed "el Chino" is
Raúl's, but not Fidel's, father. As youngsters, 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 Colegio Belén in Havana. Raúl, as
an undergraduate, studied social sciences. Whereas Fidel excelled
as a student, Raúl's performance was mostly mediocre. Raúl
was a committed socialist and joined the Socialist Youth, an affiliate
of the Soviet-oriented Cuban Communist Party, Partido Socialista
Popular (PSP). The brothers participated actively in sometimes violent
student political actions. In 1953, Raúl was a member of
the 26th of July Movement that attacked the Moncada Barracks, and
he spent 22 months in prison as a result of this action. During
his exile in Mexico, he participated in the preparations of the
expedition of the ship Granma, embarking for Cuba on December 2,
1956.
It
was during the period in Mexico that Raúl reportedly befriended
Ernesto "Che" Guevara in Mexico City and brought him into
Fidel's circle of revolutionaries. Raúl also established
contact with Soviet KGB agent Nikolai Leonov, whom he had met two
years earlier during a trip to the Soviet-bloc nations. That relationship
would persist until the Castro brothers successfully assumed power
in Cuba.
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A
Commander in the Cuban Revolution
Raul
was one of the few survivors of the disastrous Grama landing.
He was part of the tiny group of survivors who managed to
reach a safe haven in the Sierra Maestra mountains (see the
Cuban Revolution). As Fidel's brother and trusted right-hand
man he was given progressively bigger commands. On February
27, 1958, Raul 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 Raul'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). However, Raul's forces remained active and grew over time.
By October 1958, after being reinforced by Fidel, the two brothers
had about 2,000 fighters and they were operating freely throughout
Oriente province. In December, while Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos
were operating around Santa Clara, Fidel and Raul's army laid siege
to Maffo (capturing it on December 30th). Their victorious army
then headed to Santiago de Cuba, the capital of Oriente province.
Thanks to the loss of Santa Clara, Batista fled
Cuba on night of December 31-January 1. 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 PM January 1 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 January 6, 1959.
Raul's abilities as a military leader during the
revolution are hard to see clearly. Unlike Che Guevara or Cienfuegos,
Raul had no significant victories he could claim credit for on his
own. The last operations (which were clearly successful) were conducted
with his older brother Fidel present (and in command).
After Batista's fall, Raul was responsible for overseeing
the summary execution of "scores" of soldiers loyal to
deposed president Fulgencio Batista
Post–1959
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 has been a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party
of Cuba and the Second Secretary of its Politburo since the Party's
formation in October 1965; also, the First Vice President of the
Cuban Council of State, of the National Assembly of the Popular
Power and of the Council of Ministers since these were created in
1976. He was appointed Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces
when the Ministry was founded in October 1959 and served in that
capacity until February 2008; he is also the nation's highest ranking
general. Castro is credited with persuading his older brother to
implement agricultural market reforms in the early 1990s which increased
the food supply, after the Soviet Union fell and its generous subsidies
to Cuba stopped.
Public persona and personal life
A few weeks after the 1959 victory, Castro married Vilma Espín
Guillois, a former MIT chemical engineering student and veteran
of the revolution who in 1960 became president of the Cuban Federation
of Women.[10] They have three daughters (Déborah, Mariela
and Nilsa) and one son (Alejandro). Their daughter Mariela currently
heads the Cuban National Center for Sex Education. Vilma Espín
died on June 18, 2007, a daughter and some relatives of Raul are
believed to reside in Italy.
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."
Source:
- Wikipedia
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