Raul Castro, the 94-year-old sibling of Fidel Castro and a central architect of Cuba’s communist state, has been indicted by the United States in connection with the 1996 shootdown of planes flown by the group Brothers to the Rescue. The U.S. action draws attention to a man who has been a defining presence in Cuban politics and the armed forces for more than six decades.
Revolutionary beginnings
- Born in 1931, Castro was a leading figure alongside his elder brother Fidel in the guerrilla campaign that toppled Fulgencio Batista in 1959, ushering in the communist revolution that reshaped Cuba.
- For decades he served as his brother's defense minister, establishing a robust power base within the military and across state institutions that underpinned the revolutionary government.
- During his early career he played a role in repelling the U.S.-backed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 and later oversaw Cuban military interventions outside the island, most notably in Africa.
Political rise
- Castro’s formal political prominence increased when Fidel fell ill in 2006; he moved into the role of acting president and then was formally named president in 2008.
- Following Fidel Castro’s death in 2016, Raul Castro continued to be viewed as the principal unifying figure for those loyal to the 1959 revolution, confounding expectations that Fidel’s passing would weaken the communist government’s cohesion.
A lasting power broker
Castro remained in the presidency until 2018. After relinquishing the formal office he retained the rank and honorific of "army general" and continued to exercise considerable influence within the Communist Party, the armed forces and state institutions. Current President Miguel Diaz-Canel is widely perceived to rely on Castro’s counsel for significant decisions.
In December 2025, Castro proposed postponing the Communist Party congress that was expected to select Diaz-Canel’s successor, citing the country’s deep economic crisis; the party’s Central Committee approved the delay unanimously. His continued involvement in high-level party deliberations underscores his enduring role in managing succession and policy timing.
Castro made a public appearance in Havana on May 1 during International Workers’ Day events. Wearing a military uniform, he marched alongside President Diaz-Canel and other officials but showed signs of frailty during the ceremony and had to sit down suddenly.
The indictment announced by the United States connects Castro to the shooting down in 1996 of aircraft operated by Brothers to the Rescue, an episode that remains a notable and contentious event in Cuba-U.S. relations. The legal action renews focus on a long-standing figure whose decisions have shaped Cuba’s trajectory since the revolution.