Some fifty years of Fidelismo have taught Cubans to look for hidden meanings behind official pronouncements, so when flattering references to Raul Castro (right) suddenly began to dominate the toothless local media, there was many a knowing smile. The accolades to his seemingly idyllic family life - married 45 years, four fine children - and his hitherto unsuspected artistic bent could mean only one thing: his image was being buffed up to ensure a smooth transition of power when the Old Man died.
As Cuba's long-serving Minister of Defence, Raul, 75, already exercises significant political and economic influence and his revolutionary credentials bear full comparison with Fidel's. Both were taken prisoner during the botched 1953 assault on a barracks that initiated armed resistance to the brutal Batista government, before leading their
|
|
|
  |
 |
|
Fidel’s hardline little brother hopes to finally emerge from the shadows, says
philip jacobson |
|
|
rag-tag fighters from the Sierra Maestra mountains to total victory three years later. While Fidel was creating the new Marxist Cuba, Raul directed the retribution against the old regime, which saw hundreds executed (dozens by his own hand).
"Raul's problem is that he's always lived in the big brother's shadow," says one academic who knows him well, "and you'd better believe that hurts." When he spotted a photograph wrongly identifying him as Fidel - a bizarre mistake given that that the decidedly oriental cast of Raul's features have earned him that nickname of "La China" - he furiously scrawled across it: "I am Raul!"
As Fidel's health deteriorates, Raul is not in much better shape. A notoriously hard drinker, he is reportedly suffering from advanced cirrhosis of the liver. 
FIRST POSTED AUGUST 15, 2006
|
