Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz(Spanish pronunciation (born 3 June 1931), commonly known as Raúl Castro, is a Cuban Marxist-Leninist politician and revolutionary who has been President of the Council of State of Cuba and the President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba since 2008

Early life and education

Raul Modesto Castro was born in Biran, Cuba, in 1931, one of several illegitimate children of Angel Castro, a wealthy Spanish landowner; and Lina Ruz, a cook and maid to Angel Castro's first wife. He is the younger brother of Fidel Castro, Cuba's former president.

Young Raúl attended the same schools as his older brother, but was neither as studious nor gregarious as Fidel. He was educated at the University of Havana.

Career

As Fidel Castro transformed the revolution into government, he came to rely on Raúl more and more. In the fifty years since the revolution, Raúl has served as head of the Communist Party, Minister of Defense, Vice President of the Council of State and many more important positions. He has generally been most identified with the military: he has been Cuba’s top-ranking military officer since soon after the Revolution. He advised his brother during times of crisis such as the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

As Fidel’s health faded in recent years, Raúl came to be considered as the logical (and perhaps the only possible) successor. An ailing Castro turned over the reins of power to Raúl in July of 2006 and in January of 2008 Raúl was elected President in his own right, Fidel having withdrawn his name from consideration.

Personal life

Raúl married his girlfriend and fellow revolutionary Vilma Espín in 1959 not long after the triumph of the revolution. They had four children- Mariela; Nilsa; Deborah; Alejandro. She passed away in 2007.