Raúl Castro: origins and revolutionary trajectory

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RaulCastro he was a Cuban revolutionary who acted for the 26th of July Movement, the movement that took over Cuba during the Cuban Revolution in 1959. Brother of Fidel Castro, Raúl was Cuba's number two for nearly five decades, amassing important government posts. He assumed the presidency in 2008 because of Fidel's health problems.

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First years

Raúl Modesto Castro Ruíz was born in Birán, Cuba, on June 3, 1931. Raúl, like his brother Fidel, was born and spent some years of his childhood on the sugarcane farm that his father owned. Ángel Maria Bautista Castro y Argiz was a Spaniard who had prospered in Cuba as a farmer.

Raúl Castro, brother of Fidel Castro, was Cuba's second man for nearly five decades.[1]
Raúl Castro, brother of Fidel Castro, was Cuba's second man for nearly five decades.[1]

Raúl Castro was born from Ángel Castro's relationship with Lina Ruz González, a Cuban of Spanish descent who had worked as a maid on Ángel's farm. Seven children were born from their relationship: Angelita, Ramón, Fidel, Juanita, Emma and Augustina. He was the couple's fourth child.

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Raúl grew up in the same environment as Fidel Castro and, therefore, also enjoyed the good financial condition that the family had. Thus, had access to a good education, as well as Fidel, being sent to Havana, where he studied at a Jesuit college called Colegio Belen. Raúl also studied Social Sciences at the university.

In both cases, the fact that Raúl was not the best of the students stands out, unlike his brother, who was extremely dedicated. Politically speaking, Raúl had more revolutionary ideals than his brother when they were both young. While Fidel joined the Orthodox, nationalist and center-left party, Raúl joined the left, Marxist-Leninist Popular Socialist Party.

Role in the revolutionary struggle

Raul Castro disapproved of the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista and this motivated him to engage in the revolutionary struggle against this dictatorship. He joined the revolutionary group that was under the leadership of his brother and took part noO assault on the Moncada Barracks, the event that started the struggle of the Castro brothers against the Batista dictatorship.

In this attack, Raúl Castro was part of the group that was sent to the Palace of Justice to take it. After the entire operation proved to be a failure, Raúl and his companions decided to flee. He was arrested about 72 hours after the attack. Put on trial, his sentence ordered him to remain imprisoned for 13 years. However, stayed in prison for 22 months. He was released in 1955, when Fulgencio Batista decided to grant amnesty to political prisoners.

Raúl followed his brother, exiling-if In Mexico, where they formed the 26th of July Movement. In Mexico, Raul he knew Che Guevara, introducing him to his brother. Together, Fidel, Raúl and Che took part in one of the most important revolutions of the 20th century. Another important name who joined the movement during the exile in Mexico was Camilo Cienfuegos. These four and dozens more people decided in 1956 that it was time to return to Cuba to start a revolution.

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  • Cuban revolution

Raúl Castro was one of 82 people aboard the yacht Granma, who left for Cuba in November 1956. Their objective was to restart the fight against the dictatorship of Fulgêncio Batista, but the return had a disastrous outcome, as the guerrillas were discovered by the Cuban army a few days after arrive.

A fight broke out and only 12 of the 82 managed to survive. Among the 12 survivors were Raúl, Fidel, Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos. They hid in the mountainous region of Sierra Maestra and from there they began the fight against Fulgencio Batista. In this fight, Raúl was one of the most important names, occupying the position of commander.

He was involved in military actions in northeastern Cuba, participated in missions involving the kidnapping US citizens and, along with his brother, was involved in an attack on Maffo at the end of 1958. Evidently, these missions were only possible because, over the years 1957 and 1958, the guerrilla movement grew a lot.

The decisive battle was that of Santa Clara, in which the guerrilla forces were led by Che Guevara. On January 1, 1959, Fulgencio Batista identified that his situation was increasingly delicate and decided to flee, exiling himself in the Dominican Republic. After that, Raúl and Fidel went to Santiago, conquering the city without a fight. On January 8, they arrived in Havana, already victorious, consolidating the Cuban revolution.

Cuban government

Propaganda in Cuba valuing the great names of the Cuban Revolution. Raúl Castro is second from left to right.[2]
Propaganda in Cuba valuing the great names of the Cuban Revolution. Raúl Castro is second from left to right.[2]

Raúl Castro's role during the revolution was much questioned, as some historians claim that his military qualities were limited. With power now in the hands of Cuban revolutionaries, Raúl was responsible for setting up an intelligence service and took part in the judgments of those involved in the government of Fulgencio Batista.

With the formation of the new government, Raúl Castro assumed important positions. It was even sent to the Soviet Union with the aim of buying arms for Cuba, which suffered under US pressure in the early 1960s. One of the most tense moments was when Cuba was invaded by CIA-backed counterrevolutionary guerrillas during the Invasion of the Bay of Pigs.

Raul Castro he was even the target of a US-coordinated assassination operation. This operation would be put into practice on June 21, 1960, when Raúl would make a trip to Czechoslovakia. The objective was to bring down the plane in which Raúl would board, but the mission was aborted at the last moment.

Raul Castro held numerous functions in the Cuban government, being Second Secretary of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Cuba, Vice President of the Council of Cuban State, Vice President of the Council of Ministers, Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, etc. Raúl's accumulation of positions made him the secondman from cuba, second only to his brother, Fidel.

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President of Cuba

Raúl Castro remained as Cuban vice president from 1965 to 2008, when health problems forced Fidel Castro to to waive à cuban presidency. In 2008, Fidel Castro officially stepped down from the presidency, and Raúl Castro was chosen to succeed him. Once in the presidency, Raúl promoted some reforms, with the aim of increasing the political institutionalization of Cuba.

With that, Raúl Castro encouraged the strengthening of institutions that are part of the Cuban government, giving them greater autonomy and diminishing some of the personalism that marked their brother's government. In addition, Raúl carried out reforms that promoted a certain opening up of Cuba, allowing Cuban citizens to have basic items such as cell phones, expanded access to the Internet, among others.

Raul too encouragedTheresumption of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States and maintained dialogues with the US government during the administration of Barack Obama. This rapprochement was interrupted during the Donald Trump administration.

In 2018, Raúl Castro resigned from the Cuban presidency and was succeeded by Miguel Díaz-Canel. In early 2021, he also announced his resignation from the presidency of the Communist Party of Cuba. The post is also believed to be succeeded by the current Cuban president.

Despite the renovations and slight openings, your government was still criticized for having enough limitations in the field of freedom of expression and for facing a serious economic crisis, caused by the sanctions imposed by Donald Trump from 2017.

Image credits

[1] Harold Echelon and Shutterstock

[2] Toniflap and Shutterstock

By Daniel Neves Silva
History teacher

Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/biografia/raul-castro-ruiz.htm

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