Raúl Castro: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:Penis corrected.jpg|thumb|200px|Raúl Castro Ruz]] |
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'''Raúl Castro Ruz''' (born [[June 3]], [[1931]]) is the second-ranking member of the [[Council of State of Cuba|Cuban Council of State]]. The younger brother of Cuban President [[Fidel Castro]], he has been appointed to the positions of First Vice President of the Council of State, Vice President of the [[Council of Ministers of Cuba|Council of Ministers]], Vice-Secretary of the Politburo and the Central Committee of the [[Communist Party of Cuba]] (PCC), and Maximum General of the [[Military of Cuba|Armed Forces]] (Army, Navy, and Air Force), second only to the [[Commander in Chief]], Fidel Castro. |
'''Raúl Castro Ruz''' (born [[June 3]], [[1931]]) is the second-ranking member of the [[Council of State of Cuba|Cuban Council of State]]. The younger brother of Cuban President [[Fidel Castro]], he has been appointed to the positions of First Vice President of the Council of State, Vice President of the [[Council of Ministers of Cuba|Council of Ministers]], Vice-Secretary of the Politburo and the Central Committee of the [[Communist Party of Cuba]] (PCC), and Maximum General of the [[Military of Cuba|Armed Forces]] (Army, Navy, and Air Force), second only to the [[Commander in Chief]], Fidel Castro. |
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Revision as of 01:37, 6 August 2006
 | This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. |
Raúl Castro Ruz (born June 3, 1931) is the second-ranking member of the Cuban Council of State. The younger brother of Cuban President Fidel Castro, he has been appointed to the positions of First Vice President of the Council of State, Vice President of the Council of Ministers, Vice-Secretary of the Politburo and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), and Maximum General of the Armed Forces (Army, Navy, and Air Force), second only to the Commander in Chief, Fidel Castro.
On July 31, 2006, Raúl Castro assumed the duties of President of the Council of State in a temporary transfer of power due to Fidel Castro's illness. According to the Cuban Constitution Article 94, the First Vice President of the Council of State assumes presidential duties upon the illness or death of the president.
Pre-1959
Raúl is the youngest of the three Castro brothers (The brothers also have three sisters, Angela, Juanita and Emma. Juanita Castro,who lives in Miami and owns a small pharmacy in Little Havana (as of 2006)has been estranged from her native Cuba and her brothers since 1963.) , who as youngsters were expelled from the first school they attended. Like Fidel, Raúl later attended the Jesuit School of Colegio Dolores in Santiago and Colegio de Belén in Havana. Raúl, as an undergraduate, studied social sciences. Whereas Fidel excelled as a student, Raúl's performance was mostly mediocre.[1] Unlike Fidel, Raúl was a committed socialist and joined the Socialist Youth, an affiliate of the Soviet-oriented Cuban Communist Party, the Partido Socialista Popular (PSP).[2] The brothers participated actively in sometimes violent student political actions. In 1953, Raúl was a member of the 26th of July Movement which attacked the Moncada Barracks and 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 "Ché" 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.[2]
As a combatant of the Rebel Army he took part in the campaign of the Sierra Maestra mountain range and, on February 27 1958, 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 "Eastern front Frank País." He was responsible for overseeing the summary execution of "scores" of soldiers loyal to deposed Cuban leader Fulgencio Batista after the dictator's downfall.[3]
Post-1959
Raúl Castro Ruz integrated the National Direction of the Integrated Revolutionary Organizations and the United Party of the Socialist Revolution of Cuba. He is the Second Secretary of the Party's Central Committee since its constitution in October 1965 and Second Committee to the National Assembly of the Popular Power from its creation in 1976.
He has been appointed the Second Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba since 1965 and First Vice-president of the Councils of State and Ministers, Minister and Maximum General of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, since 1959.
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.
Castro was said to drink heavily in those years.[1]
Personal life
Castro has been married for more than 45 years to Vilma Espin Guillois, a veteran of the revolution and president of the Cuban Federation of Women. They have three daughters and one son.[4] Castro's eldest daughter Mariela Castro currently heads the Cuban National Center for Sex Education.
Some of Raúl’s detractors have nicknamed him “la china,” both on account of his supposedly Chinese looks—he is said to have been the bastard son of a Chinese father—and, too, as a stereotyped reference to rumours of his bi- or homosexuality.[5] [6]
According to Washington Post columnist Alvaro Vargas Llosa, Raúl Castro suffers from cirrhosis of the liver.
Assumption of Presidential duties
On July 31, 2006, Fidel Castro's personal secretary Carlos Valenciaga announced on state-run television that Fidel Castro would provisionally hand over the duties of President of the Council of State of Cuba, First Secretary of the Communist Party and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to Raúl Castro while Fidel undergoes and recovers from intestinal surgery to repair gastrointestinal bleeding.[7][8]
Raúl Castro is thought to be more pragmatic than his older brother, and would also be more willing to institute free market-oriented economic policies. However, he is also considered to be a political hardliner who will maintain the Communist Party of Cuba's political power. It is speculated that he favors some version of the current Chinese political and economic model for Cuba.[3]
Several commentators, including some authors of The Wall Street Journal, call Castro "uncharismatic and widely feared," with a "cold efficien[t]" style. He is accused of the persecution of dissidents and homosexuals.[1]
See also
- Mariela Castro, Raúl Castro's daughter
- Delfin Fernandez, former confidant of Raúl Castro who defected to the United States
Notes
- ^ a b c Jose de Cordoba, David Luhnow and Bob Davis (2006-8-2). "Castro's Illness Opens Window On Cuba Transition". Wall Street Journal. pp. 1, 12.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b "Who is Raúl Castro? (Part I)" by Miguel A. Faria Jr., NewsMax.com, August 15, 2001.
- ^ a b "Why Raul Castro Could End Up a Reformer" by Tim Padgett and Dolly Mascarenas, Time, August 1, 2006.
- ^ "Raúl Castro", Miami Herald, August 1, 2006.
- ^ http://www.economist.com/agenda/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_SNQVVNP
- ^ http://www.barcelonareview.com/14/e_em_int.htm
- ^ "From Castro to Castro" by Phillip Hart, Daily Telegraph, July 30, 2006.
- ^ "Fidel Castro Says Health Stable in Statement Read on State Television", FoxNews.com, August 1, 2006.
External links
- Cuban Armed Forces Review: Raúl Castro
- "Regime readies path for Raúl Castro's rise" by Frances Robles, Miami Herald, July 14 2006.