Raúl Castro reappears at public event after reports of critical health – NBC 6 South Florida
Former Cuban leader Raúl Castro reappeared on Saturday at a public event, just days after reports suggested he was hospitalized in critical condition.
As seen in a video published by Cuban television, Castro took part alongside top regime officials in an event marking the 65th anniversary of the Directorate of Personal Security, the agency responsible for protecting the highest-ranking leaders of Castroism.
Castro, 95, is seen by analysts and Cuba watchers as the most influential behind-the-scenes figure in the government, even though he no longer holds the head of state position.
Iliana Lavastida, executive director of Diario Las Américas, said in recent days that sources on the island told her Castro was in very poor condition.
In mentioning the report, Telemundo 51 stressed that the information had not been independently confirmed.
Castro’s most recent public appearance had been on Aug. 13, when he took part in events commemorating the 100th anniversary of the birth of his brother, Fidel Castro.
A central figure in modern Cuba
Raúl Castro has been one of the most decisive figures in contemporary Cuban history.
A founding member of the Cuban Revolution, he spent decades at the helm of the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR) while his older brother, Fidel Castro, led the country. His control of the military gave him enormous influence within the government long before he formally took over leadership.
Raúl Castro assumed Cuba’s leadership in 2008, after Fidel stepped down due to illness, and remained president for roughly a decade.
Since Fidel Castro’s death in 2016, experts have often described Raúl as the regime’s unifying figure, even after stepping away from formal leadership posts.
A controversial legacy
For many Cuban exiles and opposition activists, however, Castro’s legacy remains deeply controversial.
“Raúl Castro was openly bloodthirsty. He has been linked to some of the worst massacres in the history of that regime, that dictatorship,” said Orlando Gutiérrez Boronat, coordinator of the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance.
Gutiérrez described Castro as the most important authority figure still inside the regime.
“I believe that, for the different factions that make up the regime, he is their center,” Gutiérrez said. “Even at this age, even with all the years that have passed, Raúl Castro remains a central figure—the central figure of that regime.”
Power behind the scenes
Although Miguel Díaz-Canel is officially Cuba’s president and first secretary of the Communist Party, analysts have long argued that Raúl Castro continues to wield considerable influence behind the scenes.
Those who closely follow Cuba’s political system often point to Castro’s long-standing ties to the armed forces and the Communist Party as key factors in maintaining cohesion within the government.
His possible absence, observers say, could create uncertainty among rival factions within Cuba’s leadership.
Reforms and a historic opening
During his time as president, Castro pushed limited economic reforms and a modest opening of the Cuban economy.
He also welcomed two popes to the island and played a central role in one of the most significant diplomatic developments in Cuba’s recent history.
In 2014, Castro and U.S. President Barack Obama surprised the world by announcing the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries, ending decades of hostility dating back to the Cold War.
Indictment in the United States
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Justice announced an indictment against Castro related to the 1996 shootdown of two Brothers to the Rescue aircraft over international waters, in which four people were killed, including three American citizens.
Federal prosecutors allege that, while serving as Cuba’s defense minister, Castro was part of the chain of command that authorized the operation.
Castro has not appeared in a U.S. court, and Cuban authorities have for years rejected U.S. efforts to hold Cuban officials accountable for the shootdown.
Questions about Cuba’s future
Reports about Castro’s health have also renewed attention on Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, the former leader’s grandson, known in Cuba by the nickname “El Cangrejo” (“The Crab”), which Raúl Castro himself reportedly gave him when he was a child.
There has been speculation that he has taken part in recent talks with the United States, although those negotiations are reported to have stalled.
This story was translated from Spanish with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool. An NBC6 digital editor reviewed the translation.