:Raúl Castro

Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz was born in Birán, Cuba, the legal son of a Spanish immigrant father, Ángel Castro who was 55 at the time of his birth, and a Cuban-born mother of Canarian parentage, Lina Ruz. Raúl is the youngest of three brothers: Ramón, Fidel, and himself.{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/929121/Raul-Castro|title=Raúl Castro Ruz|publisher=Britanica|access-date=10 November 2008}} He also has four sisters: Angela, Juanita, Emma, and Agustina. Ángel Castro's first wife, Maria Argota, also raised five legal half-siblings of Raúl: Pedro Emilio, Maria Lidia, Manuel, Antonia, and Georgina.

As children, the Castro brothers were expelled from the first school they attended (Colegio La Salle) in Santiago de Cuba. Like Fidel, Raúl later attended the Jesuit School of Colegio Dolores in Santiago de Cuba and Belen Jesuit Preparatory School in Havana. Raúl as an undergraduate studied Public Administration at the University of Havana since 1950, but he did not graduate. Whereas Fidel was an excellent student, Raúl turned in mostly mediocre performances.{{cite news|author= José de Córdoba, David Luhnow and Bob Davis|title= Castro's Illness Opens Window on Cuba Transition|newspaper= The Wall Street Journal|pages= 1, 12|date= 2 August 2006}} Raúl became a committed socialist and joined the Socialist Youth, an affiliate of the Soviet-oriented Popular Socialist Party, the island's Communist party.{{cite web|last= Faria|first= Miguel|title= Who Is Raul Castro? (Part II)|url= http://haciendapublishing.com/articles/who-ra%C3%BAl-castro-part-ii|access-date= 22 August 2001|archive-date= 25 October 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171025171238/http://www.haciendapublishing.com/articles/who-ra%C3%BAl-castro-part-ii|url-status= dead}} The brothers participated actively in sometimes violent student actions.{{cite web|title= Revolutionary Firing Squads|url= http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/revolutionary-firing-squads.htm| access-date= 20 February 2008|year= 2008}}

In 1953, Raúl served as a member of the 26th of July Movement group that attacked the Moncada Barracks; he received a 13-year prison sentence and spent 22 months in prison as a result of this action.

{{cite news|last= Rojas|first= Marta|date= 4 September 2006|url= http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2006/agosto/vier4/33raulmon-i.html|title= When Raúl Castro assumed responsibility for the assault on the Moncada Garrison|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060821233305/http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2006/agosto/vier4/33raulmon-i.html|archive-date= 21 August 2006|df= dmy-all}}{{cite web|last= Faria|first= Miguel|title= Fidel Castro and the 26th of July Movement|url= http://haciendapublishing.com/articles/fidel-castro-and-26th-july-movement|access-date= 27 July 2004|archive-date= 14 January 2012|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120114121459/http://haciendapublishing.com/articles/fidel-castro-and-26th-july-movement|url-status= dead}} During his subsequent exile in Mexico, he participated in the preparations for the expedition of the boat Granma to Cuba.

{{BLP sources section|date=April 2021}}

File:Portada-raulcastro-moncada.jpg

When the Granma landing failed and the 82 expeditionaries were detected by government troops soon after, Raúl was one of only 12 fighters who managed to reach a safe haven in the Sierra Maestra mountains, forming the core of the nascent rebel army {{xref|(see Cuban Revolution)}}. As Fidel's brother and trusted right-hand man and given his proven leadership abilities during and after the Moncada attack, he was given progressively bigger commands. On 27 February 1958 Raúl 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 Raúl'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), but Raúl's forces remained active and grew over time.

On 26 June 1958, Raúl Castro's rebels kidnapped ten Americans and two Canadians from the property of Moa Bay Mining Company (an American company) on the north coast of Oriente Province. The next day rebels took hostage 24 U.S. servicemen on leave from the United States naval base at Guantanamo Bay. This incident brought total kidnapped hostages to 36 (34 U.S. and 2 Canadian citizens).

U.S. Ambassador Earl E. T. Smith and his staff determined the kidnappings had the following objectives: Obtain worldwide publicity, regain M-26-7 prestige lost by general strike call failure, force Batista's Air Force to stop bombing rebel holds, and gain public recognition from the U.S. Two tactical objectives the kidnapping achieved for Castro forces can be discerned from contemporaneous reporting in Time: Batista declaring a ceasefire for negotiations, forcing a reduction in Operation Verano air raids; the rebels used the lulls to regroup and fly in arms.

The hostage-taking caused significant U.S. backlash, including unfavorable public reaction, and U.S. consideration to re-establishing military support to Batista and deploying U.S. forces to free the hostages. Ultimately, the hostages were released in very small groups, extracting the maximum press attention.{{cite magazine|magazine=Time|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,868579,00.html|title=CUBA: Caught in a War|date=14 July 1958}} After their release, the hostages said they were treated well with some even claiming to support the rebel cause.Pierre Kalfon, Che, 1997

Regarding the captured Batista government soldiers, Raúl Castro notes in his war diaries: "All three were brought food and told that they would be released and only their weapons would be kept. They had money and watches we needed, but according to our principles, we didn't touch them." In the territories under guerrilla control, it created an autonomous structure by establishing hospitals, schools and several material manufacturing plants. In 1958, he was also at the origin of the M-26 intelligence services.{{cite web|url=https://operamundi.uol.com.br/permalink/33272|title=50 verdades sobre Raúl Castro|website=Operamundi.uol.com.br|date=3 January 2014 |access-date=8 June 2019}}

By October 1958, after reinforcement by Fidel, the brothers had about 2,000 fighters and were operating freely throughout Oriente province. In December, while Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos were operating in Santa Clara, Fidel and Raúl's army laid siege to Maffo, capturing it on 30 December. Their victorious army then headed to Santiago de Cuba, capital of Oriente province.

In response to the victory by Che Guevara at the Battle of Santa Clara, the U.S.-backed President Fulgencio Batista fled Cuba in the early morning of 1 January 1959.Audio: [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98937598 Cuba Marks 50 Years Since 'Triumphant Revolution'] by Jason Beaubien, NPR All Things Considered, 1 January 2009 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 P.M. on 1 January 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 8 January 1959.

Raúl's abilities as a military leader during the revolution are hard to see clearly. Unlike Che Guevara or Cienfuegos, Raúl had no significant victories he could claim credit for on his own. After Batista's fall, Raúl had the task of overseeing trials and execution of between 30 and 70 soldiers loyal to deposed President Batista who had been convicted of war crimes.

{{cite news

| title = Why Raul Castro Could End Up a Reformer

| author = Tim Padgett and Dolly Mascarenas

| url = http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1222009,00.html

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060812001009/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1222009,00.html

| url-status = dead

| archive-date = 12 August 2006

| publisher = Time

| date = 2 August 2006

| access-date = 5 August 2006 }}

File:Hoffmann Kuba.jpg and Raúl Castro near Havana, Cuba, 1977]]

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 is also credited with helping shoot down a Lockheed U2 and killing Major Rudolf Anderson.{{cite news|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-11-23-mn-5361-story.html|title=Castro Urged Soviet Nuclear Attack in '62|date=23 November 1990}}

He served as a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and Second Secretary of its Politburo from the Party's formation in October 1965; also, as First Vice President of the Cuban Council of State of the National Assembly of People's Power and Council of Ministers when these were established in 1976.

{{See also|2006–2008 Cuban transfer of presidential duties}}

File:The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh with the Vice President and the acting President of Cuba Mr. Raul Castro on sidelines the XIVth Non-Aligned Movement Summit at Havana, Cuba on September 15, 2006.jpg

On 31 July 2006, Fidel Castro's personal secretary, Carlos Valenciaga, announced on state-run television that Fidel Castro would provisionally hand over the duties of First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba (party chief), President of the Council of State of Cuba (head of state), President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba (prime minister), and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to Raúl Castro while Fidel underwent and recovered from intestinal surgery to repair gastrointestinal bleeding.{{cite news | author= Phillip Hart| title = From Castro to Castro| url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/07/30/wcuba30.xml| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060806110310/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/07/30/wcuba30.xml| url-status = dead| archive-date = 6 August 2006| publisher = The Daily Telegraph| date = 30 July 2006| access-date = 5 August 2006| location=London}}{{cite news |title= Fidel Castro Says Health Stable in Statement Read on State Television |url= https://www.foxnews.com/story/fidel-castro-says-health-stable-in-statement-read-on-state-television |work= Fox News |date= 1 August 2006|access-date = 5 August 2006|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060813115041/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,206483,00.html |archive-date = 13 August 2006|url-status= live}}

Many{{quantify|date=February 2018}} commentators regarded Raúl Castro as a political hardliner who would maintain the Communist Party of Cuba's influence in the country. However, others believed that he was more pragmatic than his older brother and willing to institute some market-oriented economic policies. It was speculated{{by whom|date=February 2018}} that he favored a variant of the current Chinese and Vietnamese political and economic model for Cuba in the hopes of preserving some elements of the socialist system.

Raúl is considered by some{{who|date=February 2018}} to be less charismatic than his brother Fidel Castro, who remained largely out of public view during the transfer-of-duty period.{{cite news|title= Castro recovering and giving orders: Chavez|date= 3 September 2006|publisher= Reuters|url= http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-09-03T213241Z_01_N03251032_RTRUKOC_0_US-CUBA-CASTR0-VENEZUELA.xml&archived=False|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061025044729/http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews|archive-date= 25 October 2006}} His few public appearances included hosting a gathering of leaders of the Non-Aligned nations in September 2006, and leading the national commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the landing of the boat Granma, which also became Fidel's belated 80th-birthday celebrations.{{cite web|author= Weekend Edition Saturday |url= https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6569909 |title= Cuba Marks Belated Birthday for Ailing Castro |publisher= NPR |date= 2 December 2006 |access-date= 6 April 2013}}{{cite web | title = Raul Castro greets Chávez on Fidel's 80th birthday | url = http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=137334 | access-date = 20 February 2008 | year = 2008 | archive-date = 5 March 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080305015856/http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=137334 | url-status = dead }}

In a speech to university students, Raúl stated that a communist system in Cuba would remain, and that "Fidel is irreplaceable, unless we all replace him together."{{cite news | title = Raul Castro 'not imitating Fidel' | url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6199369.stm | access-date = 20 February 2008 | work= BBC News | date= 21 December 2006}}

On 1 May 2007 Raúl presided over the May Day celebrations in Havana. According to Granma the crowd reached over one million participants, with delegations from over 225 organizations and 52 countries.{{cite web | title = Millions of Cubans demand imprisonment for terrorist Posada Carriles | url = http://granma.cu/ingles/2007/mayo/mar1/18desfile-i.html | access-date = 20 February 2008 | year = 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080305023140/http://granma.cu/ingles/2007/mayo/mar1/18desfile-i.html | archive-date = 5 March 2008 | url-status = dead}}

Raúl has a reputation for his businesslike, unanimated delivery of speeches.

{{cite news

| title = Raul offers Cuba a quieter Castro voice – CNN.com

| url = http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/02/19/raul.castro.ap/index.html

| access-date = 20 February 2008 | year = 2008

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080229044442/http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/02/19/raul.castro.ap/index.html

| archive-date = 29 February 2008 | url-status = dead}}

{{BLP sources section|date=August 2021}}

After assuming what was originally announced as a temporary control over the presidency in 2006, on 24 February 2008 Raúl Castro won election as the new President of the Council of State and President of the Council of Ministers during a legislative session held at Cuba's Palace of Conventions in Havana. His administration subsequently announced several economic reforms. In March 2008 the government removed restrictions on the purchase of numerous products not available under Fidel Castro's administration – including DVD-players, computers, rice cookers, and microwaves.{{cite news | title = Raul Castro pushes change for Cubans |first= Morgan|last= Neill| url= http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/04/26/raul.castro/ | access-date = 26 April 2008 | work= CNN | date= 26 April 2008}} In an effort to boost food production, the government allowed private farmers and cooperatives to lease idle state-owned land and moved much of the decision-making process regarding land use from the national level to the municipal level.Marc Frank, "Raúl Castro Overhauls Cuba's Farm Bureaucracy", Reuters News, 1 May 2008.

All death sentences (about 30) were commuted between 2008 and 2010, although none had been executed since 2003.{{cite web|url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2010/12/29/97001-20101229FILWWW00242-cuba-derniere-peine-de-mort-commuee.php|title=Cuba: dernière peine de mort commuée|date=29 December 2010|website=Lefigaro.fr|access-date=8 June 2019}}

File:Cumbre de la Unidad de América Latina y el Caribe. Quintana Roo. Con Hugo Chávez y Raul Castro..jpg, 2010]]

In mid-2008, the government overhauled the salary structure of all state-run companies so that harder-working employees could earn higher wages.Frances Robles, "Cubans Who Work More Will Get Higher Salaries", Miami Herald, 12 June 2008. In addition, the government removed restrictions against the use of cell phones and investigated the removal of travel restrictions on Cubans.

In March 2009, Raúl Castro dismissed some officials.

In April 2011, Raúl announced a plan of 300 economic reforms encouraging private initiative, reducing state spending, encouraging foreign investment and agrarian reforms. He also announced a limitation on presidential terms, including his own.

On 24 February 2013, Cuba's parliament named Raúl Castro to a new five-year term as president and appointed Miguel Díaz-Canel as his first vice president. Castro announced that day that he would step down from power after his second term as president ended in 2018.{{cite web|title= Cuba names Raul Castro to new term as president|url= https://www.foxnews.com/world/cubas-president-raul-castro-announces-retirement-in-5-years-as-he-is-named-to-new-term|publisher= Fox News|access-date= 24 February 2013}}

In 2018, he was selected as a candidate for the National Assembly of People's Power by the Segundo Frente municipality in Santiago de Cuba, regarded{{by whom|date=May 2019}} as the cradle of the Cuban Revolution.

{{cite web

|url= https://miami.cbslocal.com/2018/01/23/raul-castro-cuba-parliament/

|title= Raul Castro Nominated For Cuba's Parliament

|date= 23 January 2018|website=Miami.cbslocal.com

|access-date= 4 March 2019

}}

Miguel Díaz-Canel took over as President of Cuba (President of the Council of State) on 19 April 2018. However, Raúl Castro remained First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, and hence the de facto leader of Cuba, until he resigned on 19 April 2021.

{{See also|United States–Cuban Thaw}}

File:Handshake_between_the_President_and_Cuban_President_Ra%C3%BAl_Castro.jpg

File:Obama_and_Raul_Castro_baseball.jpg and the Cuban National Team at the Estadio Latinoamericano in Havana on March 22, 2016]]

Raúl Castro said in a 2008 interview: "The American people are among our closest neighbors. We should respect each other. We have never held anything against the American people. Good relations would be mutually advantageous. Perhaps we cannot solve all of our problems, but we can solve a good many of them."{{cite news |url= http://www.thenation.com/article/conversations-chaacutevez-and-castro?page=0,2 |title= Conversations With Chávez and Castro |newspaper= The Nation |date= 25 November 2008 |access-date= 12 January 2013 |archive-date= 7 November 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181107005336/https://www.thenation.com/article/conversations-chaacutevez-and-castro/?page=0,2 |url-status= dead }}

On 10 December 2013, Castro, in a significant move, shook hands with and greeted American President Barack Obama at the Nelson Mandela memorial service in Johannesburg.{{cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/blog/2013/dec/10/nelson-mandelas-memorial-service-live-updates |title= Nelson Mandela's memorial service: as it happened|date= 10 December 2013|newspaper= The Guardian|access-date= 11 December 2013}}

On 17 December 2014, Castro and Obama made separate announcements to the effect that efforts to normalize relations between the two nations would begin with the re-establishment of embassies in Havana and Washington. Direct diplomatic relations had previously ceased in 1961 after Cuba became closely allied with the USSR.{{cite web|newspaper= Bloomberg News|date= 17 December 2014|url= https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-17/obama-to-announce-u-s-cuba-relations-shift-as-gross-is-released.html|title= Obama Acts to End More Than Half-Century U.S.–Cuba Estrangement|author= Keane, Angela Greiling|author2= Dorning, Mike}}{{cite news|last1= Baker|first1= Peter|title= Obama Announces U.S. and Cuba Will Resume Relations |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/world/americas/us-cuba-relations.html|access-date= 18 December 2014|newspaper= The New York Times|date= 18 December 2014}}

Argentine-born Pope Francis facilitated the rapprochement between the U.S. and Cuba, allowing the Vatican to be used for secret negotiations. Castro and Obama made simultaneous public announcements about the progress toward normalization.{{cite news|last= Yardley|first= Jim|title= Praising Pope, Cuban President says he might return to Church|newspaper= The New York Times|date= 11 May 2015|page= A4}}

On 20 July 2015 Cuba and the United States officially resumed full diplomatic relations with the sections of "Cuban interests" in Washington, D.C., and "U.S. interests" in Havana upgraded to embassies.{{cite news|url= http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/u-s-cuba-restore-full-diplomatic-ties-after-5-decades-1.3159608|title= U.S., Cuba restore full diplomatic ties after 5 decades|agency= CBC News|date= 20 July 2015|access-date= 20 July 2015}}

On 20 March 2016 Obama made a visit to Cuba to meet with Castro – the first visit of a sitting U.S. president to Cuba in 88 years.Korte, Gregory (21 March 2016) [https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/03/21/obama-meet-cuban-president-ral-castro/82068258/ "Obama meets Cuban President Raúl Castro"], USA Today. Retrieved 21 March 2016.

Speaking in 2017, Castro criticized U.S. President Donald Trump's proposition of the Mexican wall and restrictive trade policy. Castro called Trump's plans egotistical and – for the border – irrational. "You can't contain poverty, catastrophes, and migrants with walls, but with cooperation, understanding, and peace," Castro said.{{cite web|url= https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-usa-castro-idUSKBN16D0BM|title= Cuba's Raul Castro blasts Trump's Mexican wall and trade policy|date= 6 March 2017|access-date= 4 March 2019|website= Reuters.com}} In November 2016 Trump (as U.S. President-elect) targeted Raúl in a tweet, saying, "If Cuba is unwilling to make a better deal for the Cuban people, the Cuban/American people and the U.S. as a whole, I will terminate deal".{{cite web|url= https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/803237535178772481|title= If Cuba is unwilling to make a better deal for the Cuban people, the Cuban/American people and the U.S. as a whole, I will terminate deal|first= Donald J.|last= Trump|date= 28 November 2016|publisher= Twitter|access-date= 4 March 2019}}

Castro surprised a top American envoy in September 2017 while discussing alleged sonic attacks on American diplomatic staff. He denied involvement but allowed FBI rare access to investigate the incident that allegedly left 21 people with hearing loss and brain damage.{{Cite news|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/raul-castros-surprising-response-to-harmed-us-diplomats/2017/09/16/1d48b436-9b0d-11e7-af6a-6555caaeb8dc_story.html|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170917050249/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/raul-castros-surprising-response-to-harmed-us-diplomats/2017/09/16/1d48b436-9b0d-11e7-af6a-6555caaeb8dc_story.html|url-status= dead|archive-date= 17 September 2017|title= Raul Castro's surprising response to harmed US diplomats|first1= Josh|last1= Lederman|first2= Michael |last2=Weissenstein|first3= Rob|last3= Gillies|date= 16 September 2017|newspaper= The Washington Post|access-date= 17 September 2017|language= en-US|issn= 0190-8286}}

In September 2019 the United States sanctioned Castro and barred him from entering the U.S. due to Cuba's support of the Nicolás Maduro government in Venezuela during the presidential crisis and alleged human-rights abuses caused by the government.

{{Cite news

|url= https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cuba-castro-idUSKBN1WB2B5|title= U.S. issues travel ban for Cuba's Castro over human rights accusations, support for Venezuela's Maduro|first= Matt|last= Spetalnick|newspaper= Reuters|date= 26 September 2019|via= www.reuters.com

}}

On 16 April 2021, the 8th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba assembled for a four-day meeting,{{cite news|url=https://www.plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id=66427|title=President of Cuba greets 8th Congress of the Communist Party|publisher=Prensa Latina|date=16 April 2021|accessdate=16 April 2021}} marking the start of Castro's final transfer of leadership and retirement from politics.{{cite news|url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210416-a-future-without-castro-leadership-change-in-cuba|title=A future without Castro: leadership change in Cuba|author=AFP|work=France 24|date=16 April 2021|accessdate=16 April 2021}} Miguel Díaz-Canel was elected Castro's successor as First Secretary of the Communist Party on 19 April 2021.{{Cite news |date=19 April 2021 |title=Cuba leadership: Díaz-Canel named Communist Party chief |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-56802129 |work=BBC News |access-date=20 April 2021}}

Castro makes occasional public appearances and speeches, most recently at the celebration of the 65th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution on 1 January 2024.{{cite news |title=Raul Castro Says No Generational Contradictions in Cuba |url=https://havanatimes.org/features/raul-castro-says-no-generational-contradictions-in-cuba/ |access-date=April 13, 2024 |work=Havana Times |date=January 4, 2024}} Though officially retired, Raul Castro still retains a seat in the National Assembly and the title of Army General. He is also considered to wield great influence on affairs of state from behind the scenes.{{Cite web |last=Oppmann |first=Patrick |date=2023-04-19 |title=Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel wins a second term |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/19/americas/cuba-relection-president-intl/index.html |access-date=2024-10-18 |website=CNN |language=en}}

Castro married Vilma Espín, a former Massachusetts Institute of Technology chemical engineering student and the daughter of a wealthy lawyer for the Bacardi rum company, on 26 January 1959.{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20131127101008/http://www.mathaba.net/news/?x=614847 "Raul Castro Visited New Housing Project in Santiago de Cuba" Cuban News Agency via Cuban Radio]}}. Retrieved 11 February 2009 from mathaba.net. Vilma became president of the Cuban Federation of Women.{{cite news|title = Time magazine Milestones|url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,892216,00.html|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070311192820/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,892216,00.html|url-status = dead|archive-date = 11 March 2007|publisher = Time Magazine|date = 9 February 1959|access-date = 14 November 2006}} They have three daughters (Déborah, Mariela, and Nilsa) and one son (Alejandro) Castro Espín.{{cite news |title= Raúl Castro |url= http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/cuba/15169028.htm |newspaper= Miami Herald |date= 1 August 2006

|access-date = 5 August 2006}}{{dead link|date=April 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Vilma Espín died on 18 June 2007.DePalma, Anthony (The New York Times). [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=k4dIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JXIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6790%2C92936 "News Obituaries"]. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 21 June 2007. p. C-6. Retrieved 25 February 2022.

Alejandro is a Colonel in the Ministry of the Interior, as director of the office of Intelligence Coordination between MININT and MINFAR, with full oversight and access to all of the activities of the Intelligence services. Most foreign analysts consider him to be the "czar" of Cuban Intelligence and Raul's link to maintaining control over MININT, balancing it with his own control of MINFAR. He is widely viewed as Raul's most trusted advisor and is likely being prepared for a future leadership role.Juan Reinaldo Sanchez, The Double Life of Fidel Castro: My 17 Years as Personal Bodyguard to El Lider Maximo, Penguin Press (2014) p. 198. Their daughter Mariela Castro currently heads the Cuban National Center for Sex Education, while Déborah is married to Colonel Luis Alberto Rodríguez, head of GAESA, the Armed Forces' economic division. He is widely regarded as one of the most powerful figures in the Cuban Economy due to the Military's hold on most of the lucrative business sectors.{{cite news| url=http://www.economist.com/node/17463421?story_id=17463421 |newspaper=The Economist |title=Trying to make the sums add up | date=11 November 2010}} Deborah's son, Raul Guillermo, nicknamed El Cangrejo (The Crab) due to a malformed finger, is Raul's current chief bodyguard.Juan Reinaldo Sanchez, The Double Life of Fidel Castro: My 17 Years as Personal Bodyguard to El Lider Maximo, Penguin Press (2014) p. 197.

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."{{cite web |title = The Fidel Castro mystery|publisher=Sentinel & Enterprise |url=http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/ci_4249757 |access-date = 20 February 2008 |year = 2008 }}

In an interview with actor Sean Penn, Castro was described as "warm, open, energetic, and sharp of wit". However, Juan Reynaldo Sanchez, a defected bodyguard for Fidel who knew Raul well, wrote later that his warm public exterior was a carefully maintained façade; In private, he found him to be "rough, curt, almost unpleasant" with a dubious sense of humor.Juan Reinaldo Sanchez, The Double Life of Fidel Castro: My 17 Years as Personal Bodyguard to El Lider Maximo, Penguin Press (2014) p. 193. Nevertheless, though, Sanchez considered Raul the true "architect" of the Castroist system, despite having a polar opposite personality to Fidel. Whereas Fidel was "charismatic, energetic, visionary but extremely impulsive and totally disorganized", Raul was described as a "natural, methodical, and uncompromising organizer".Juan Reinaldo Sanchez, The Double Life of Fidel Castro: My 17 Years as Personal Bodyguard to El Lider Maximo, Penguin Press (2014) p. 191.

After a meeting with Pope Francis in Vatican City on 10 May 2015, Castro said that he would conditionally consider returning to the Roman Catholic Church.{{cite news|last1=MacLaughlin|first1=Eliott C.|title=Raul Castro may join Catholic Church, he says after Pope Francis meeting|url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/10/europe/italy-raul-castro-pope-francis-meeting/|work=CNN|date=14 May 2015}} He said in a televised news conference, "I read all the speeches of the pope, his commentaries, and if the pope continues this way, I will go back to praying and go back to the [Roman Catholic] church. I am not joking." The pope visited Cuba before his September 2015 visit to the United States. Castro said: "I promise to go to all his Masses" when Pope Francis visited Cuba in 2015.{{cite news|newspaper=The New Yorker|title=Pope Francis in Cuba |author=Anderson, Jon Lee|date=22 September 2015|url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/pope-francis-in-cuba}} Castro considered Christ a communist stating, "I think that's why they killed Jesus, for being a communist, for doing what Fidel defined as revolution... changing the situation."{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/christ-was-a-communist-says-castro-1.292935|title=Christ was a communist, says Castro|newspaper=The Irish Times}}

In the 1969 American film Che!, Castro was played by Paul Bertoya. In the 2002 film Fidel, he was played by Maurice Comte. In the 2008 American biographical film Che, he was played by Rodrigo Santoro.{{Citation needed|date=April 2021}}

He is mentioned as "Fidel Castro's brother" in the Billy Bragg song, "Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards".

{{BLP sources section|date=April 2021}}

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• 70px Order of the Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow, 1st class (Russian Orthodox Church)For the contribution to strengthening inter-religious cooperation in connection with the consecration of the church of Our Lady of Kazan in Havana
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• 70px Order of Lenin
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{{Reflist|30em}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book

| last = Castro

| first = Juanita

| others=as told to María Antonieta Collins

| title = Fidel y Raul – Mis Hermanos, La Historia Secreta

| publisher = Santillana USA Publishing Company, Inc.

| year = 2009

| isbn = 978-1-60396-701-3

| url-access = registration

| url = https://archive.org/details/fidelyralmisherm0000cast

}}

{{refend}}

{{notelist}}

{{wikiquote}}

{{Commons category|Raúl Castro}}

• [http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=5543 Raul Castro Stamps His Mark], Havana Times, 4 March 2009
• [https://www.thetimes.com/article/who-is-raul-castro-cubas-new-leader-ptw8g9d5qj3 Who is Raul Castro, Cuba's new leader?], Times Online, 19 February 2008.
• [http://www.cidob.org/es/documentacion/biografias_lideres_politicos/america_central_y_caribe/cuba/raul_castro_ruz Biography by CIDOB Foundation] (in Spanish)
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928005627/http://www.escambray.cu/Eng/news/Craulspeech070727925.htm Speech by Raúl Castro on July 26, 2007 (English translation)], Escambray Digital, 27 July 2007.

• [http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/print?id=56518443 "Cuba in transition"] {{Webarchive|url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20020909234554/http://www.stabroeknews.com/ |date=9 September 2002 }} in [http://www.stabroeknews.com/ Starbroek News], 19 April 2007
• [http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/cuba/15034556.htm "Regime readies path for Raúl Castro's rise"] by Frances Robles, Miami Herald, 14 July 2006.
• [http://astore.amazon.co.uk/fidelcastro-21 Raul Castro Books] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930032809/http://astore.amazon.co.uk/fidelcastro-21 |date=30 September 2011 }}
• BBC Profile: [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5234790.stm Raul Castro], 24 February 2008
• Time Magazine: [https://web.archive.org/web/20080420174111/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1732103,00.html Castro Family Values: Fidel vs. Raul] 17 April 2008
• [http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/stryker/search/results?q=duke.collection:stryker&fq=str_dc.subject.Person:%22Castro+Ruz,+Raul,+1930-%22&rows=32&expand=str_dc.subject.Person Photographs of Raul Castro, 1964 – Duke University Libraries Digital Collections]
• {{C-SPAN|1021263}}

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{{s-ttl|title=Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement|years=2006–2009}}

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