Raúl Castro Born in Birán

Summary

Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz was born on June 3, 1931, near Birán in eastern Cuba. The younger brother of Fidel Castro, he became involved in radical politics as a young man and participated in the failed 1953 attack on the Moncada Barracks. After imprisonment and exile, he joined the expedition aboard the Granma and became a commander in the guerrilla movement that overthrew Fulgencio Batista at the beginning of 1959. Raúl Castro then served for decades as head of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces and as one of the government's most powerful officials. When Fidel Castro became seriously ill, Raúl assumed presidential duties in 2006 and formally became president in 2008. His government introduced limited economic changes and participated in the restoration of diplomatic relations with the United States under President Barack Obama. He left the presidency in 2018 and stepped down as Communist Party leader in 2021, though he remained influential.