last public appearance by Castro came on Aug. 13<\/a>, when he participated in events marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of his brother, Fidel Castro.<\/p>\nA Central Figure in Modern Cuba<\/p>\n
Ra\u00fal Castro has been one of the most consequential figures in modern Cuban history.<\/p>\n
A founding member of the Cuban Revolution, he spent decades serving as defense minister and head of the armed forces while his older brother Fidel Castro led the country. His control of the military gave him enormous influence within the government long before he formally assumed leadership.<\/p>\n
Ra\u00fal Castro took over as Cuba\u2019s leader in 2008 after Fidel stepped down because of illness and remained president for roughly a decade.<\/p>\n
Since Fidel Castro\u2019s death in 2016, experts have frequently described Ra\u00fal as the regime\u2019s unifying figure, even after stepping away from formal leadership positions.<\/p>\n
Critics Recall Controversial Legacy<\/p>\n
For many Cuban exiles and opposition activists, however, Castro\u2019s legacy remains deeply controversial.<\/p>\n
\u201cRa\u00fal Castro was outright bloody. He’s been associated with some of the worst massacres in the history of that regime, that dictatorship,\u201d said Orlando Guti\u00e9rrez, coordinator of the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance.<\/p>\n
Guti\u00e9rrez described Castro as the regime\u2019s most important remaining authority figure.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that the different factions that compose the regime, he is their center,\u201d Guti\u00e9rrez said. \u201cEven at this age, even with all the years that have passed, Ra\u00fal Castro remains as a central figure, as the central figure of that regime.\u201d<\/p>\n
Power Behind the Scenes<\/p>\n
Although Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel is officially Cuba\u2019s president and first secretary of the Communist Party, analysts have long argued that Ra\u00fal Castro continues to wield substantial influence behind the scenes.<\/p>\n
Those who closely follow Cuba\u2019s political system often point to Castro\u2019s longstanding ties to the military and the Communist Party as key factors maintaining cohesion within the government.<\/p>\n
His potential absence, observers say, could create uncertainty among competing factions inside the Cuban leadership.<\/p>\n
Reforms and a Historic Opening<\/p>\n
During his tenure as president, Castro oversaw limited economic reforms and a modest opening of Cuba\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n
He also welcomed two popes to the island and played a central role in one of the most significant diplomatic developments in recent Cuban history.<\/p>\n
In 2014, Castro and President Barack Obama stunned the world by announcing the restoration of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba, ending decades of Cold War-era hostility.<\/p>\n
Indictment in the United States<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Justice announced an indictment against Castro<\/a> related to the 1996 shootdown of two Brothers to the Rescue aircraft over international waters.<\/p>\nFederal prosecutors allege that while serving as Cuba\u2019s defense minister, Castro was part of the chain of command that authorized the operation. Four men were killed in the incident.<\/p>\n
Castro has not appeared before a U.S. court, and Cuban authorities have long rejected U.S. efforts to hold Cuban officials responsible for the shootdown.<\/p>\n
Questions About Cuba\u2019s Future<\/p>\n
The reports about Castro\u2019s health have also renewed attention on Ra\u00fal Guillermo Rodr\u00edguez Castro, the former leader\u2019s grandson, who is known in Cuba by the nickname \u201cEl Cangrejo,\u201d or \u201cThe Crab.\u201d<\/p>\n
There has been speculation that he has been involved in recent discussions with the United States, though those talks have reportedly stalled.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reports that former Cuban leader Ra\u00fal Castro is gravely ill are fueling renewed speculation about the future of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":387564,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[1016,225,227,226],"class_list":["post-387563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hialeah","tag-cuba","tag-hialeah","tag-hialeah-headlines","tag-hialeah-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}