Raúl Castro: 5 things to know about departing Cuba president

Raúl Castro is expected to step down as president of Cuba this week, ending a nearly 60-year run where he helped his brother lead the communist nation before becoming president himself.

His older brother, Fidel Castro, was always the public face of the revolution. Fidel was the charismatic leader who turned a Caribbean getaway for Americans into a geopolitical force that played an integral role in the Cold War and brought the world to the brink of nuclear war.

Raúl Castro, quiet and reserved, was happy to take a back seat to his older brother. But the younger Castro was always operating just off stage, fighting alongside Fidel to overthrow Cuba’s government, negotiating directly with Soviet leaders, and running the country’s armed forces for five decades before becoming president.

Castro is expected to hand over the title of president to a younger Cuban leader, Miguel Díaz-Canel, who was born after the Castro revolution. Castro is expected to retain his title as head of the Communist Party of Cuba, and could still loom large in retirement.

Here’s a look at five key facts about the 87-year-old Castro.

Role in the Revolution

Raúl Castro, five years younger than his older brother, was part of the bloody fighting from the start.

The brothers fought together during their first attack against Cuba’s U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista on July 26, 1953. The failed assault on the military barracks in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba led to short prison terms for the Castro brothers, and formed the inspirational basis for their uprising.

It was Raúl Castro who first met another key figure in the Cuban revolution, the Argentinian doctor Ernesto “Che” Guevara. They met in Mexico as Raúl Castro recruited supporters for their invasion of Cuba.

The Castro brothers, with Guevara and 79 other fighters, rode together on a boat that landed in eastern Cuba in 1956. They settled into the jungle-covered mountains of the region, where they started their guerrilla campaign.

Fidel Castro would say later that he took precautions with his younger brother in the early days in the mountains. By the time they took Havana on New Year’s Day 1959, the younger Castro was a seasoned veteran.

Defense Minister

At first, Raúl Castro was placed in command of military forces in the eastern province of Oriente. But he soon rose to become Defense Minister, a position he held for 49 years.

In the early days, that meant eliminating all sources of opposition on the island. No reliable data exists on the number of people assassinated under Raúl Castro — many without trial — but estimates reach into the thousands.

As the government became closely aligned with the Soviet Union, Raúl Castro flew to Moscow to organize the shipment of arms to Cuba. That helped build Cuba’s arsenal for what would become the Cuban Missile Crisis.

He also led Cuba’s attempts to spread their revolutionary ideology around the globe, supporting leftists in Angola, the Congo, South Africa, Bolivia, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Grenada and elsewhere.

Cuba’s defense ministry also plays a key role in Cuba’s centrally-planned economy, meaning Raúl Castro held considerable power over several key sectors of the island’s economy. Most importantly, Armed Forces Business Enterprises Group (GAESA) operates much of the tourism industry in Cuba, operating hotels, restaurants, bars and tour companies. GAESA controls anywhere between 40 and 60% of the island’s foreign exchange earnings, according to Reuters. 

Rise to Power

For years, Cubans worried about what would happen if Fidel Castro suddenly died. His death, many feared, would lead to an internal power struggle, and possibly a snap invasion from the United States.

Instead, Castro’s decline was a slow one that allowed the country to transition to life after Fidel. In 2006, Castro became so ill that he handed over power to his younger brother. In 2008, Raúl Castro became president.

Fidel was still alive and somewhat involved  while Raúl Castro established himself as president. By the time Fidel Castro died in 2016, the succession was complete and Raúl Castro was firmly in power.

Economic Changes

Once in command, the younger Castro didn’t make any changes to the system of government, it’s one-party rule, or the regime’s hardline approach to dissidents.

But Raúl Castro did roll out a series of economic changes, which he described as “improvements to the socialist system” that would have been unimaginable under Fidel Castro. 

He allowed Cubans to buy and sell their homes and cars. Until then, everything was owned by the state and Cubans needed government permission simply to move from one apartment to another. Raúl Castro created the idea of personal property, which led to a rudimentary real estate market, car sales, and even a Cuban version of eBay.

Castro also accelerated the idea of private entrepreneurship, something that his older brother only experimented with on a small scale. Under Raúl Castro, the government “fired” a half million state employees and allowed them to work on their own.

They are only allowed to work in a set number of service sector fields, such as taxi drivers, restaurant owners, and barbers. And they are heavily scrutinized by government officials, who can take away their private licenses for minor transgressions.

But the new class of entrepreneurs — known as cuentapropistas — set their own hours, hire their own employees, buy their own goods, and pay taxes.

Castro has also made other minor changes, such as installing wireless Internet signals in parks around the country, and allowing Cubans easier access to cell phones.  

Opening with U.S.

Of all the changes he implemented, none will be remembered more than his historic detente with the U.S.

On Dec. 14, 2014, Castro and Obama shocked the world when they made surprise announcements that the U.S. and Cuba would re-establish diplomatic ties.

That led to a flurry of reconciliation. The embassies in Washington, D.C., and Havana were reopened. Government officials started flying back and forth, holding high-level meetings on issues ranging from the economy to immigration to joint drug trafficking efforts. Americans started flooding the island on cruise ships and direct flights from the U.S.

That opening reached its zenith in March 2016, when Obama visited Havana and spent three days with Raúl Castro. The two held several meetings, and even watched a baseball game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Cuban National Team.

President Trump has rolled back that opening, citing a series of unexplained “health attacks” against U.S. diplomats. But the embassies remain open, cruise ships continue sailing to Havana, and U.S. flights keep landing in Cuba.

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