RAUL CASTRO RUZ

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80B01676R002700060014-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 15, 2003
• Sequence Number: 14
• Content Type: MF

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SUBJECT: Raul Castro Ruz
Raul Castro Ruz, the 27-year-old brother of Cuban Prime
Minister Fidel Castro (32 years old), became commander-in-chief
of the Cuban armed forces in mid February 1959. He had pre-
viously been designated by Fidel Castro as the second most
important leader and heir to the Cuban revolution should
Fidel die.
Raul Castro is one of the top members of the revolutionary
regime most frequently charged with being Communist or pro-
Communist. Whether or not he is actually a Communist, his
actions and attitudes have encouraged and facilitated Communist
activities in Cuba. He is bitterly anti-American and has made
frequent public statements blaming the United States for all
of Cuba's economic, political and social problems, The United
States, he charges, has controlled a disproportionate share
of Cuba's wealth and has supported dictatorial governments.
He has also charged that the United States continued to supply
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Batista with arms, even after the embargo on arms shipments
was established in March 1958.
Born on his father's plantation near Mayari, Oriente Pro;.
vine, on 3 June 1931, Raul attended secondary schools in
Santiago de Cuba and later went to the University of Havana,
although he is not believed to have received a degree. Shortly
after Batistats ouster in January 1959, Raul married Vilma
Espin, a fellow rebel who has been reported as being a Communist.
Her sister is considered to be a Communist,
In 1953 Raul attended a Conference for the Defense of the
Rights of Youth in Vienna from 22 to 27 March, at which he was
one of the speakers. Following the conference, which attracted
both Communist and non-Communist delegates, Raul is believed
to have travelled in Europe and possibly behind the Iron
Curtain, He returned to Cuba in June and was reportedly de-
tained briefly by Havana customs agents for having in his
possession a quantity of "Communist propaganda material."
He participated in the abortive attack led by Fidel Cas-
tro against the Moncada barracks in Santiago de Cuba on 26
July 1953. He was captured and remained in prison until freed
under a general amnesty declared by Batista in May 1955, He
followed his brother into exile and was a member of Fidel's
original invasion force which landed in Cuba on 2 December 1956,
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In March 1958, he led a small column of men to the Sierra
Cristal in northern Oriente Province and successfully estab-
lished the "Second Front." He came into international promi-
nence in mid-1958 when he kidnapped more than 50 US and Canadian
citizens, including a bus load of personnel from the US Naval
Base at Guantanamo Bay. Although Fidel Castro disapproved of
the kidnappings and instructed Raul to release the captives
promptly, Raul delayed the process for approximately three
weeks, gaining a great deal of publicity as well as a brief
respite from Cuban air force bombings. The episode provoked
much speculation that Raul was attempting to establish his own
reputation as a revolutionary leader at Fidel Castro's expense.
Both Fidel and Raul Castro have consistently maintained
that their relations are harmonious. A speech by Raul at the
University of Havana on 20 April, however, attacked the United
States as an "enemy of the Cuban revolution," in sharp contrast
to Fidel's concurrent speeches during his visit to the United
States.
ALLEN W.VDULLES
(Director)
Attachment:
1 - Photo of Raul Castro
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