The Boston Globe August 02, 2006
Raśl Castro Ruz
1931 Born on a sugar plantation in Oriente province, the fourth of seven children.
1953 He and his brother, Fidel, and other rebels attack a military garrison but are captured and jailed.
1955 Released after 22 months in prison, the rebels regroup in Mexico.
1956 Raúl, Fidel, and Ernesto ``Che" Guevara sail to Cuba aboard the ``Granma" to overthrow the government of Fulgencio Batista.
1958 June 27, Raúl commanded the kidnapping of American and Canadian hostages. The captives are released three weeks later.
1959 The Batista government falls. Fidel Castro comes to power and names Raúl armed forces chief. Raul marries Vilma Espin, who was educated at MIT.
1970s Raúl was heavily involved in Cuba's military alliance with the Soviet Union and the dispatch of hundreds of thousands of troops to Africa.
1976 Raúl is named first vice president of the Council of State and first vice president of the Council of Ministers.
SOURCES: Cuba government, GlobalSecurity.org
KATHLEEN HENNRIKUS
© Copyright 2006, The New York Times Company
