Raúl Castro
First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba
Incumbent
Assumed office 19 April 2011 Acting: 31 July 2006 – 19 April 2011
Deputy	José Ramón Machado
Preceded by	Fidel Castro
16th President of Cuba
Incumbent
Assumed office 24 February 2008 Acting: 31 July 2006 – 24 February 2008
Prime Minister	Himself
Vice President	José Ramón Machado
Preceded by	Fidel Castro
17th Prime Minister of Cuba
Incumbent
Assumed office 24 February 2008 Acting: 31 July 2006 – 24 February 2008
President	Himself
Preceded by	Fidel Castro
24th Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement
In office 24 February 2008 – 11 July 2009 Acting: 16 September 2006 – 24 February 2008
Preceded by	Fidel Castro
Succeeded by	Hosni Mubarak
First Vice President of Cuba
In office 2 December 1976 – 24 February 2008
President	Fidel Castro
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	José Ramón Machado
Second Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba
In office 3 October 1965 – 19 April 2011
First Secretary	Fidel Castro
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	José Ramón Machado
Personal details
Born	(1931-06-03) 3 June 1931 (age 81) Birán, Cuba
Political party	Communist Party
Spouse(s)	Vilma Espín (1959–2007)
Children	Deborah Mariela Nilsa Alejandro
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Revolutionary Armed Forces
Service/branch	26th of July Movement
Years of service	1953–1959
Rank	Comandante
Battles/wars	Cuban Revolution
Awards	Hero of the Republic of Cuba[1] Order of Yaroslav Mudry First Grade[2] National Order of Mali[3] Quetzal Medal[4] Order Prince Daniel of Good Faith First Degree[5]

Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz^[6] (born 3 June 1931) is a Cuban politician and revolutionary who has been President of the Council of State of Cuba^[7][8] and the President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba since 2008; he previously exercised presidential powers in an acting capacity from 2006 to 2008. Raúl Castro was a rebel commander during the 1950s; after his older brother, Fidel Castro, took power, Raúl Castro was one of the most important figures in the new regime, serving as Minister of the Armed Forces from 1959 to 2008. As President, he is Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces (Army, Navy, and Air Force) and has also been First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) since 2011.

On 31 July 2006, Raúl Castro was designated as the President of the Council of State in a temporary transfer of power due to Fidel Castro's illness. According to the Cuban Constitution of 1976, Article 94, the First Vice President of the Council of State assumes presidential duties upon the illness or death of the president.

Raúl Castro was officially elected as President by the National Assembly on 24 February 2008, after Fidel Castro, who was still ailing, announced his intention not to stand for President again on 19 February 2008.^[7]

Raúl Castro was elected as First Secretary of the Communist Party at its Sixth Congress on April 19, 2011, having previously served as Second Secretary under his brother for 46 years.

Pre-1960[link]

The son of a Spanish immigrant father, Ángel Castro, and a Cuban mother of mixed ancestry, Lina Ruz, Raúl is the youngest of the three Castro brothers, Ramón, Fidel, and Raúl. He also has four sisters, Angela, Juanita, Emma, and Agustina, and two half siblings, Lidia and Pedro Emilio, who were raised by Ángel Castro's first wife.

As youngsters, the Castro brothers were expelled from the first school they attended. Like Fidel, Raúl later attended the Jesuit School of Colegio Dolores in Santiago and Colegio Belén in Havana. Raúl, as an undergraduate, studied social sciences. Whereas Fidel excelled as a student, Raúl's performance was mostly mediocre.^[9] Raúl was a committed socialist and joined the Socialist Youth, an affiliate of the Soviet-oriented Cuban Communist Party, Partido Socialista Popular (PSP).^{[10] [11]} The brothers participated actively in sometimes violent student actions.^[12]

In 1953, Raúl was a member of the 26th of July Movement that attacked the Moncada Barracks, and he spent 22 months in prison as a result of this action.^[13][14] During his exile in Mexico, he participated in the preparations of the expedition of the boat Granma, landing in Cuba on 2 December 1956.

A Commander in the Cuban Revolution[link]

Raúl Castro (left), with his arm around second-in-command, Ernesto "Che" Guevara, in their Sierra de Cristal Mountain stronghold in Oriente Province Cuba, 1958.

Raúl was one of the few survivors of the Granma landing. He was part of the tiny group of survivors who managed to reach a safe haven in the Sierra Maestra mountains (see the 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 February 27, 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). However, Raúl's forces remained active and grew over time.

By October 1958, after being reinforced by Fidel, the two brothers had about 2,000 fighters and they were operating freely throughout Oriente province. In December, while Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos were operating around Santa Clara, Fidel and Raúl's army laid siege to Maffo (capturing it on December 30). Their victorious army then headed to Santiago de Cuba, the 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.^[15] 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 PM January 1 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. The last operations (which were clearly successful) were conducted with his older brother Fidel present (and in command).^[16]

After Batista's fall, Raúl was responsible for overseeing the summary execution of scores of soldiers loyal to deposed president Batista.^[17]

Post-1959[link]

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 has been a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and the Second Secretary of its Politburo since the Party's formation in October 1965; also, the First Vice President of the Cuban Council of State, of the National Assembly of the Popular Power and of the Council of Ministers since these were created in 1976. He was appointed Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces when the Ministry was founded in October 1959 and served in that capacity until February 2008; he is also the nation's highest ranking general.

Temporary assumption of Presidential duties[link]

See also: 2006 Cuban transfer of duties

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 President of the Council of State of Cuba, President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to Raúl Castro while Fidel underwent and recovered from intestinal surgery to repair gastrointestinal bleeding.^[18][19]

Many commentators consider Raúl Castro to be a political hardliner who will maintain the Communist Party of Cuba's influence in the country. However, there are others who believe that he is more pragmatic than his older brother and willing to institute some market-oriented economic policies. It is speculated that he favours a variant of the current Chinese political and economic model for Cuba in the hopes of preserving some elements of the socialist system.^[17] However, none of these speculations has ever been confirmed by Raúl himself.

Raúl is considered by some to be less charismatic than his brother Fidel Castro, who remained largely out of public view during the transfer of duty period.^[20] 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 Granma boat landing, which also became Fidel's belated 80th birthday celebrations.^[21][22]

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."^[23]

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.^[24]

Raúl is known for his businesslike, unanimated delivery of speeches.^[25]

President of Cuba[link]

Castro with Russian president Dmitry Medvedev.

After assuming temporary control over the presidency, Raúl Castro was elected as the new president during a legislative session held at Cuba's Palace of Conventions in Havana. The 597 deputies unanimously elected a 31-member Council of State for a term of five years, which in turn elected Raul as president.^[26] His administration has since announced several economic reforms. In March 2008, the government removed restrictions against the purchase of numerous products not available under Fidel Castro's administration including DVD-players, computers, rice cookers and microwaves.^[27] In an effort to boost food production, the government turned over unused state-owned land to private farmers and cooperatives and moved much of the decision-making process regarding land use from the national level to the municipal level.^[28]

In mid-2008, the government overhauled the salary structure of all state-run companies so that harder-working employees could be rewarded with higher wages.^[29] In addition, the government has removed restrictions against the use of cell phones and is investigating travel restrictions on Cubans.^[27]

In regards to relations with the U.S., Raúl Castro said in an 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.^[30]

In March 2009, Raúl Castro dismissed some officials.

In April 2011 Raúl announced a plan of 300 economic reforms similar to the Chinese economic model, among them are the limitation of presidential mandates including himself, encouraging private initiative, reducing state spending, encouraging foreign investment and agrarian reforms.

Public and personal life[link]

Castro married Vilma Espín, a former Massachusetts Institute of Technology chemical engineering student and the daughter of a wealthy rum distiller, on 26 January 1959.^[31] Vilma became president of the Cuban Federation of Women.^[32] They have three daughters (Déborah, Mariela and Nilsa) and one son (Alejandro) Castro Espín.^[33] Their daughter Mariela currently heads the Cuban National Center for Sex Education, while Déborah is married to Colonel Luis Alberto Rodríguez, head of the Armed Forces' economic division.^[34] Vilma Espín died on 18 June 2007; a daughter and some relatives of Raúl are believed to reside in Italy.

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".^[35]

In an interview with filmmaker, actor and activist Sean Penn, Raúl Castro was described as "warm, open, energetic and sharp of wit".^[30]

See also[link]

	Cuba portal
	Biography portal

• Mariela Castro, Raúl Castro's daughter

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Castro, Juanita; as told to Maria Antonieta Collins (2009). Fidel y Raul - Mis Hermanos, La Historia Secreta. Santillana USA Publishing Company, Inc.. ISBN 978-1-60396-701-3. 

External links[link]

Wikinews has related news: Raúl Castro chosen new President of Cuba

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Raúl Castro

• Raul Castro Stamps His Mark, Havana Times, 4 March 2009
• Who is Raul Castro, Cuba's new leader?,  Times Online, 19 February 2008.
• Biography by CIDOB Foundation (in Spanish)
• Speech by Raúl Castro on July 26, 2007 (English translation), Escambray Digital, 27 July 2007.
• Cuban Armed Forces Review: Raúl Castro
• "Cuba in transition" in Starbroek News, 19 April 2007
• "Regime readies path for Raúl Castro's rise" by Frances Robles, Miami Herald, 14 July 2006.
• Raul Castro Books
• BBC Profile: Raul Castro, 24 February 2008
• Time Magazine: Castro Family Values: Fidel vs. Raul 17 April 2008
• Photographs of Raul Castro, 1964 - Duke University Libraries Digital Collections

v t e Current leaders of socialist states espousing communism Republic of Cuba Raúl Castro, First Secretary, head of government and head of state People's Republic of China Hu Jintao, General Secretary and head of state Lao People's Democratic Republic Choummaly Sayasone, General Secretary and head of state Socialist Republic of Vietnam Nguyễn Phú Trọng, General Secretary Nguyễn Tấn Dũng, Head of government Trương Tấn Sang, Head of state

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Nicolás Maduro Moros
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela
Incumbent
Assumed office August 2006
President	Hugo Chávez
Preceded by	Alí Rodríguez Araque
Personal details
Born	November 23, 1962 Caracas

Nicolás Maduro Moros (born 23 November 1962 in Caracas) is a Venezuelan politician who was appointed foreign minister by President Hugo Chávez on 9 August 2006.^[1]

Biography[link]

Nicolas Maduro began his political career as a bus driver and unofficial trade-unionist representing the workers of the Caracas Metro system in the 1970s and 1980s (back then, unions within the Metro company were not allowed). He finished high school in the Liceo Avalos, a public high-school west of Caracas during the '80 (El Valle neighborhood), but lacks any university or further education. He is considered one of the founders of the Fifth Republic Movement (MVR), but his biggest political accomplishment was as activist for the release of Hugo Chávez from prison, and later as one of this regional political coordinators during the 1998 presidential race. Maduro was elected on the MVR ticket to the Venezuelan Chamber of Deputies in 1998, to the National Constituent Assembly in 1999, and to the National Assembly in 2000 and 2005, representing the Capital District. The legislature elected him Speaker of the Assembly, even though he did not have a college degree or formal education. He held that position from 2005 until the first half of 2006.^[2] Maduro is married to Cilia Flores,^[3] herself a prominent figure within the MVR. She replaced Maduro as Speaker of assembly.^[4]

In January 2009, Israel ordered the Venezuelan ambassador and his staff to leave the country after Venezuela expelled Israeli diplomats over Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip. In an interview with Al-Jazeera, Maduro stated, with regard to Israel's expelling of the Venezuelan ambassador, that "The response of the State of Israel is weak, late and in any case for us it's an honor. We're proud that the State of Israel that exists today, led by these criminals, made this decision."^[5]

On September 2006, he was detained by the Homeland Security officers at JFK Airport, after paying for three air tickets in cash.^[6]

On the 15th of December 2011, it was reported in El Universal that President Hugo Chavez wished to make Maduro, the PSUV candidate in the state of Carabobo for governor, which is currently held by the opposition MUD.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Ministerio del Poder Popular para Relaciones Exteriores (Venezuelan Foreign Ministry)
• Nicolás Maduro Moros, Ministro del Poder Popular para Relaciones Exteriores (government CV)

1. REDIRECT Hugo Chávez