Fidel died and Raúl resigned, but Castros still hold sway in Cuba
New president will govern with a coterie of Castro family members surrounding him
MIAMI — For the first time in decades, Cubans have a president whose last name is not Castro.
Born one year after Fidel Castro’s forces took control of the island, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez is the first person outside the Castro dynasty to lead Cuba in decades.
He took the helm of government Thursday morning to a standing ovation from the National Assembly, which elected him in a nearly unanimous vote. Raúl Castro embraced him, lifting the younger man’s arm in triumph.
Díaz-Canel’s slow and steady climb up the ranks of the bureaucracy has come through unflagging loyalty to the socialist cause but he largely stayed behind the scenes until recent years. As the new president, Díaz, who turns 58 Friday, takes his first strides to govern an economically distressed country that is perennially in crisis, he will do so with a ring of Castros, and their various spouses and children, around him.
Fidel Castro died in 2016 at 90, and his eldest son, nicknamed Fidelito, killed himself this year. But Raúl Castro, who stepped down Thursday after two terms as president, remains the leader of the Communist Party and the head of the armed forces. And other Castros run the intelligence services and the vast military conglomerate that manages most state business. One of them is Raúl Castro’s most trusted bodyguard and another supports gay rights.
They are the defenders of a dynasty that is ostensibly there to support Díaz-Canel — but also to scrutinize him. As an era comes to a close, these stalwarts and heirs of the Cuban revolution will be members of an inner circle that aims to guarantee the succession of a socialist state — all while managing the delicate task of not creating the appearance of a family dynasty.
“Don’t anyone get their hopes up,” said María C. Werlau, a researcher who studies the violent legacy of the Cuban revolution. “Díaz-Canel is purely there for a cosmetic change; he is an offshoot of Raúl and has no power or perceptible source of power. The succession is well underway, and the second generation of Castros is well lined up to take control when Raúl is really out of the picture.” Here are some prominent members of the clan:
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Raúl Castro, 86, stepped down after 12 years as president. He was defence minister for nearly five decades, from 1959 to 2008, and has led the Communist Party since 2006. He retains the title of first party secretary, which he has held since 2011, and which is “where true power resides,” Werlau said.
But even Castro, with his revolutionary credentials and fraternal connections, could not pull off all of the changes he had set out to make. Too many old-guard associates put up obstacles when they saw the widening inequalities that accompanied economic reforms. So although Castro is widely believed to be planning a move from Havana to Santiago de Cuba — on Cuba’s southeastern coast, the other side of the country — he is not expected to leave Díaz-Canel entirely to his own devices.
Castro was credited with strengthening institutional control and formalizing the concept of consensus governing. He believes in delegated authority. He has made sure that there are enough internal checks and balances to keep an eye on any successor with big ideas, while still watching this one’s back. Díaz-Canel was a hand-picked successor, and it is not in Raúl Castro’s interest to see him fail.
“Raúl will be watching,” said Andy S. Gómez, a Cuba expert, now retired, who worked at the University of Miami. “Raúl, as first party secretary, will be not only watching him, but, more importantly, being there for him, symbolically, so he can move forward.”
Alcibíades Hidalgo, who was Raúl Castro’s chief of staff for a dozen years, believes that his former boss will hold on to power “until the day he dies.” Alejandro Castro Espín, 52, is Raúl Castro’s son. Castro Espín runs the intelligence services for both the armed forces and the Interior Ministry. That is a big task in a country that works hard to stifle dissent and sniff out spies.
Castro Espín was part of the team that negotiated with President Barack Obama’s administration over restoring diplomatic ties with the United States, a sign that he is part of the most trusted inner circle.
But he also has serious anti-imperialist credentials: The title of a book he wrote in 2009, “Empire of Terror,” offers a not-very-subtle clue of his opinion of Cuba’s big neighbour to the north.
“The most important of the younger generation is Castro Espín,” said Brian Latell, a former CIA analyst who has closely watched the Castro family. “I think he has a lot of influence with his father.”
Juan Juan Almeida, the son of a Cuban revolutionary war hero, grew up with Castro Espín and lived in his house when they were children. He said he was not convinced that his former best friend had the skills to succeed after his father dies.
“He’s powerful, but his power was given to him by his father,” Almeida said. “He will last as long as his father’s power lasts.”
Some experts believe that Raúl Castro would have liked to have made his son president, but that it would have looked bad internationally to have another Castro take over.
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Gen. Luis Alberto Rodríguez LópezCallejas was a Castro by marriage — he used to be married to Raúl Castro’s daughter Débora, and is the father of Castro’s favourite grandson.
Rodríguez is president of Gaesa, the holding company that controls the military’s business interests. The military runs all of the hotels and state-run restaurants, convenience stores and gas stations, making Rodríguez one of the country’s most powerful men.
“He must have 1,200 companies under him,” said Guillermo Fariñas, an outspoken critic of the government who lives in Villa Clara province. “I think the one who manages the country economically is him.”
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Raúl Rodríguez Castro, Rodríguez’s son, is Raúl Castro’s bodyguard, the kind of position that lends itself to knowing all kinds of secrets, Fariñas said.
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Mariela Castro is Raúl Castro’s daughter. A member of parliament, she enjoys an international and domestic following, largely because of her support for gay rights.
“Mariela is part of the scenery,” Hidalgo said. “She’s a decorative figure with a nice cause. In terms of power, she is far from the role of her brother or her ex-brother-in-law.”