Raúl Castro
Raúl Castro Ruz (born
June 3,
1931) is a
Cuban politician and revolutionary, the brother of
Fidel Castro. He has been 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 of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, since
1959.
He participated actively in the student fights from before the beginning of the
Fulgencio Batista dictatorship. He was member of the group of attackers to the
Moncada Quarter and spent 22 months of prison as a result of this action. During his exile in
Mexico, he participated in the preparations of the expedition of the ship
Granma, disembarking in Cuba on
December 2,
1956. As combatant of the Rebel Army he took part in the campaign of the Sierra Maestra mountain range and in February of 1958 was assigned the mission to cross the old province of Oriente at the front of a column of guerrillas to open, to the northeast of that territory, the Eastern front "Frank País". Together with his brother he finally conquered
Santiago de Cuba on
January 8,
1959, completing the overthrow of the Batista regime.
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 Delegated Committee to the National Assembly of the Popular Power from its creation in
1976.\nCastro, Raúl\nCastro