Cuban officials remained silent on Wednesday after the Diario Las Am\u00e9ricas, a Miami-based newspaper in Spanish, reported<\/a> on Tuesday that Castro, who formally retired in April 2021, had suffered a stroke and was on life support.<\/p>\n \u201cThe more things change, the more they remain the same, so I don\u2019t think there is going to be much of a change in Cuba. That\u2019s the sad part,\u201d Robert said. \u201cI still have family members there and I don\u2019t think they are going to see any benefit out of this.\u201d<\/p>\n Castro\u2019s last public appearance was on June 6 at a ceremony to commemorate the 62nd anniversary of Cuba\u2019s Ministry of the Interior. He did not attend the official annual event<\/a> to commemorate the historic assault of July 26, 1953.<\/p>\n Related report: Cuban officials remain silent despite reports of Ra\u00fal Castro being hospitalized<\/a><\/p>\n Before communism<\/p>\n Castro was born on June 3, 1931, in the village of Bir\u00e1n, in Cuba\u2019s Holgu\u00edn province. His father, Angel Castro, was born in Spain, and his mother, Lina Ruz Gonz\u00e1lez, was born in Cuba. <\/p>\n Castro was the youngest of seven: Two brothers, Fidel and Ramon, and four sisters, Angela, Juana, Emma, and Agustina. He was a student at Catholic Jesuit schools, the Colegio Dolores in Santiago and the Colegio de Bel\u00e9n in Havana. <\/p>\n Castro attended the University of Havana. He was a member of the Socialist Youth, a group of the Popular Socialist Party, and participated in the guerrilla campaign in the Sierra Maestra.<\/p>\n Guerrilla fighter<\/p>\n Castro was arrested after the guerrilla attack on the Moncada military barracks on July 26, 1953, and was sentenced to 13 years in prison, but he only served 22 months. <\/p>\n Castro received then-Cuban President Fulgencio Batista\u2019s amnesty, and he was released from the Presidio Modelo prison on May 15, 1955, at the Isle of Pines. <\/p>\n Castro went into exile in Mexico. In 1956, in Mexico City, Castro met Ernesto \u201cChe\u201d Guevara, who had graduated from the University of Buenos Aires Medical School in 1953.<\/p>\n Castro, his brother Fidel, and Guevara were on board the yacht Granma that landed with dozens of guerrilla fighters on Dec. 2, 1956, in eastern Cuba\u2019s Playas Las Coloradas. <\/p>\n Castro joined his brother, Guevara, and fellow guerrilla fighters in the Sierra Maestra mountains. The group overthrew Batista, who then fled Cuba on Jan. 1, 1959. <\/p>\n Castro married Vilma Lucila Esp\u00edn Guillois, a fellow guerrilla fighter who was born in Santiago de Cuba, on Jan. 26, 1959. The couple had four children: Three daughters, D\u00e9borah in 1960; Mariela in 1962; and Nilsa; and one son, Alejandro, in 1965.<\/p>\n Rise to power<\/p>\n As his brother rose to power, Castro was named Cuba\u2019s minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces in 1959. <\/p>\n In 1996, Castro ordered the shootdown of civilian aircraft with Brothers to the Rescue pilots and crew members. The Cuban Air Force struck and killed Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre, Jr., Mario de la Pe\u00f1a, and Pablo Morales.<\/p>\n Castro became Cuba\u2019s provisional head of state on July 31, 2006. His wife, Esp\u00edn Guillois, died on June 18, 2007. <\/p>\n Castro also served as the acting president of Cuba\u2019s Council of State and the Council of Ministers from 2006 to 2008. The National Assembly elected him president on Feb. 24, 2008. <\/p>\n In 2011, Castro was elected as the first secretary of the Communist Party. In 2013, the National Assembly elected him to a second five-year term. <\/p>\n In 2014, Castro announced the start of normalizing relations with the U.S., and negotiated with Russia to cancel 90% of a debt that had started with the Soviet Union. <\/p>\n Castro welcomed then-U.S. President Barack Obama and then First Lady Michelle Obama to Havana on March 20, 2016. <\/p>\n Fidel Castro died on Nov. 25, 2016, at 90 years old. <\/p>\n Castro served as president until April 19, 2018, when Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel Berm\u00fadez, his handpicked successor, replaced him.<\/p>\n In 2021, Castro stepped down as the leader of the Communist Party, and D\u00edaz-Canel Berm\u00fadez also replaced him. <\/p>\n While wielding power behind the scenes, Castro has continued to make public appearances in his military uniform. <\/p>\n On April 23, a U.S. federal grand jury in Miami indicted Ra\u00fal Castro for his role in the 1996 Cuban military strikes on two unarmed Cessnas with four members of Brothers to the Rescue. <\/p>\n On May 20, the U.S. Justice Department unsealed the charges: Conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, four counts of murder, and two counts of destruction of an aircraft. <\/p>\n Castro did not make or release a statement about the charges. <\/p>\n Related report: Latest updates from Local 10 Cuba Analyst Dr. Andy Gomez<\/a><\/p>\n Related social media<\/p>\n Como expresara el General Ej\u00e9rcito Ra\u00fal Castro en Belgrado, el 5 de septiembre de 1989, durante la IX Cumbre del Movimiento de Pa\u00edses No Alineados #MNOAL<\/a>:<\/p>\n “La seguridad y la paz de los ricos no son aquellas por las cuales luchamos los pa\u00edses pobres. Queremos paz con soberan\u00eda,\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/nRHUq5271Z<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Bruno Rodr\u00edguez P (@BrunoRguezP) September 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/P22LWIODWJE7RPCSE2OVBICKBQ.jpg\")
Cuba FILE – Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel, right, Raul Castro, center, Commander Ramiro Valdes, center left, and Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, left, attend an event marking the 172nd anniversary of the birth of national independence hero Jose Marti, in Havana, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ramon Espinosa, File) (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) (Ramon Espinosa\/AP Photo\/Ramon Espinosa) <\/p>\n