Gen. Raúl Castro Ruz
Raúl Castro Ruz was born the 3 June, 1931 in Brián located in eastern Cuban. He has been close to his brother Fidel from an early age. Similar to Fidel, he attended the Jesuit School of Colegio Dolores in Santiago and Colegio de Belén in Havana. He was an avowed socialist long before Fidel formally embraced the ideology. Raúl was a participant in the 1953 "26th of July" movement which launched the failed attack on Moncada Barracks. Following his involvement in the failed assault, Raúl was imprisoned until a general amnesty in 1955 at which point he was exiled to Mexico along with Fidel and others. In late 1956 Raúl along with Fidel and about 80 other revolutionaries landed in Oriente province to fight against the Batista government.
From their position in the Sierra Maestra mountain range, the rebels waged a guerilla war against Batista's troops. Raúl was given the rank of "comandante" on 2 February 1958 and led a guerilla column to open up a second front against Batista's forces. It has been reported that following the fall of the Batista government in 1959, Raúl oversaw summary executions of Batista soldiers.
In 1959 Raúl was named Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, giving him a ministerial authority and complete autonomy in reorganizing the armed forces. He used this position to build a professional military based upon Soviet doctrine. He was also named the Second Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party ever since the Committee's inception in 1965 and is the First Vice-president of the Councils of State and Ministers.
Raúl has long been seen as the heir apparent to his brother Fidel's position of power. While often described as lacking the famous charisma which characterizes his older brother, he has been seen as a powerful figure behind the scenes in Cuban politics. Raúl was the main architect of a number of Cuba's economic liberalization programs following the collapse of the Soviet Union. But his push for economic liberalization has not carried over to political liberalization. It has been reported that Raúl favors the " China" model of development which embraces market reforms but is strictly run by the Party elite.
On 1 August, 2006 an announcement was made that Fidel had temporary ceded power to Raúl after the Cuban leader suffered from health issues which arose from strain while traveling abroad. As of 3 August, both Raúl and Fidel have yet to make a public appearance following the transfer of power.
