Talk:Raúl Castro

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[edit] Repression, etc.

I edited "he controls much of the apparatus of repression in Cuba" to: "He contorls much of the military forces in cuba" searching for a more NPOV because the phrase "apparatus of repression" indicated a supposed "repression" in Cuban Goverment and that indicated a certain POV which it was not very "neutral". ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Well then I guess we should never call the terrorits that blew up the World Trade Center "terrorsits." After all, that would not be "neutral." What are you talking about? You don't believe there is an "apparatus of repression" in Cuba? Why else would people risk their lives by climbing into intertubes and braving the ocean to come to the United States? Why am I not allowed to visit my family in Cuba, or why are not they aallowed to vist me? Does the Cuban government OWN them like slaves? The jails in Cuba re full of people who just spoke their minds. These are facts. Grow up.

Well, there IS repression in Cuba, by any standard. There is no freedom of assembly, press, or speech, no political parties other than the Communist party, and no freedom to leave the country. Neutral doesn't have to mean blind.(Edited to add proper signature after logging in)--RicardoC 15:32, 7 September 2005 (UTC)

Deleted the "supposed to be homosexual" part", its completely irrelevant, this page needs a clean up.

I don't think his sexuality is irrelevant, it's an important part of the man. Much less relevant is the (very predictable) view of American officials on Raul's succession to Fidel Castro. This is an article about Cuba, not the US (I wonder if we should include the Chinese, Russian, French, British, Japanese or German view as well? Or maybe Tuvalu or Kiribati's point of view on the matter?) Deleted.


All I know that we rebel soldiers were very scared of him, almost as much as we were scared of the Che. But then you will have to read my memoirs xe xe El Jigüe 12/7/06

As to the relevance of the putative succession, it is of interest to many in the US, including the large Cuban-American community, as well as other neighboring peri-Caribbean countries. For example Mexican Cuban relations are now at an all time low, and Raul has always been less adriot and, in appearance at least more hard-line, than Fidel. El Jigüe 12/7/06

[edit] Comandante reverts

Comandante, could we discuss these edits as opposed to just making broad scale reverts? I don't understand the basis for your recent reverts. BruceHallman 15:58, 10 April 2006 (UTC)

There is little reason to expect Comandante to discuss anything; he simply edits ignoring consensus and requests to talk. In the past, there has been an RFC on him for precisely this behavior. --Bletch 23:13, 10 April 2006 (UTC)
Comandante, perhaps if you were to break your edits down into smaller pieces, versus broad scale reverts, we could work better together? Thanks in advance. BruceHallman 21:37, 12 April 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Why dont you add your predicment who will be President if bush dies in office

Why dont you do that.Its very dumb and ignorant to do this,especealy saying that "Since Raulis old,his term would be short".

This is why no one loves Amerika,they think they know it allDzoni 03:30, 16 April 2006 (UTC)


Since no one said anything,that means I was apsolutly rightDzoni 17:35, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Because it can be revelent in politic. Bah.

No, nobody replied because your statement was barely legible and complete nonsense. Carnefice 1534 01AUG2006

haha,you have only responded when Raul Castro took over Fidels place.You didnt even knew who Raul Castro was before that.Stupid Amerikan

[edit] Reliable sources please

To those users who continue to insert the sentence "It has also long been rumored that Raul castro is bisexual" citing this source [1] - which states "and Fidel himself has claimed he does not discriminate against gays; and the rumors are that his brother Raul Castro is at least bisexual" - the source does not meet Wikipedia:Verifiability or Wikipedia:Reliable sources policies and guidelines. Therefore the sentence and citation will not be accepted on this page. --Zleitzen 16:09, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

The articles cited indeed makes mention that Rail Castro is bisexual. The fact that Fidel even denys it means that there are rumors which he felt he has to deny. I am not saying that Raul Castro is bisexual, I am simply stating that there are rumprs that he is.

Rumors, rumors... Don't you see that we could include this very statement in almost all biography in Wikipedia? José San Martin 16:09, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

Yes, but when the romors are such that the Dictator himself has to deny them bout his brother, that is newsworthy.

Rules is rules, I'm afraid. You need to find a source that meets Wikipedia:Verifiability and Wikipedia:Reliable sources policies and guidelines. Your source is a non-notable internet opinion piece - thus clearly not acceptable. --Zleitzen 23:11, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

You are wrong, I'm afraid. This is an on-line magazine with a well written article. Try again.

Erm. No. Again - it clearly doesn't meet any of the Reliable sources guidelines I'm afraid - theres nothing more to be said on the matter. Please read this carefully Wikipedia:Reliable sources. Also, see guidelines concerning the Wikipedia:Three-revert rule which you have broken. If you continue to edit in this fashion it may lead to you being blocked from wikipedia. --Zleitzen 01:24, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

No wonder you are love with Cuba. How dare I speak of Castro's brother being gy! How dare I say he executed people in his youth! These are not truths, becuase you say they are not? These are being cited from literature found on the Internet, not from Blogs. How dare you!


Furthermore, you are the one who keeps vandalizing my entries. You are the one who keeps deleting them. How much are you getting paid by the Cuban Government? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 65.3.167.159 (talk • contribs).

No one is getting paid by any government. Please refrain from adding nonsense to both talk pages and articles. --Jay(Reply) 02:27, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
Zleitzen, saying "theres nothing more to be said on the matter" really seems to violate Wikipedia's policies of open, and on-going, discussion as a way to build consensus. There's a debate about the notability of rumors, and that's fair. I think what is unfair is for any of the sides in this debate to declare "discussion is over!" Invoking the three-revert rule, on the other hand, is fair: this is designed to stop endless revert wars. But saying that nothing more can (should? may?) be said on the matter is something quite different.Interlingua talk email 04:21, 1 August 2006 (UTC)
What more can be said? There was clearly no valid source as explained by numerous editors numerous times - also, please check the history of this page to find the now deleted responses from the user (utilising different IP addresses) containing various personal attacks. There is a limit to how much "open discussion" can be had. By the way, the same user has posted repeatedly on the Fidel Castro page, calling other users "Bitches" etc. There is no more to be said, this is a Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons.--Zleitzen 04:28, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

On what authority does any editor have that Raul Castro is either homosexual, kicks his dog, or cannot dance the mambo? I feel like that might be a bit embellished. But then again, I don't know for sure so I don't feel quite right editing it out.

[edit] Reiterate

To all users, Raul hasn't become temporary "President of Cuba". He is "assuming the duties" of head of the council of state as per Cuban constitution. Fidel is still President of Cuba.--Zleitzen 15:56, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

I agree raul isnt actually President without a ceremony but as castro has renounced all his positions can he be considered President himself. The situation is confusing and I think we should reflect that confusion, SqueakBox 16:02, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

See Cuba talk page for discussion. The position is outlined by the constitution, quite clear and is typical of other nations. Comparable to when Reagan was shot etc.--Zleitzen 16:05, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Racist Vandalism

Someone has recently been editing this page to change the word "cuban" into racial epithets. I have marked the page as sprotected. --Falcomadol 17:06, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Contradiction

Is Raúl a more agressive Communist dictator than his brother, or is he more pragmatic and open to economic reform? --204.244.150.7 17:44, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

They say he is better than his brother, but you won't know that for sure until Castro finally kicks the bucket. --Kranar drogin 18:09, 1 August 2006 (UTC)
I've found this just-published Time article on Raul Castro that explains his contradictory reputation. Apparently he's a hardliner when it comes to political reform (he want the Communist Party to retain absolute power), but is thought to favor market-oriented economic reforms; in other words, he believes more or less in the Chinese political model. I'll try to incorporate this information into the article appropriately. Peter G Werner 00:21, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Beast?

I dont know if somebody vandalized it or what. But I dont understand the part which says he was appointed vice president of the "beast". Could some of you verify this or do some clean-up. Thankl

[edit] People close to Raul, part of inner circle

Little is known of Raul outside of Cuba, the only knowledge we have is the top ranking officials who defected in the past. one of these people is Delfin Fernandez.
Trade2tradewell 05:07, 3 August 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Raul's role in the Moncada Barracks Operation

Here is an interesting article from Granma which includes a facimile from the Oriente newspaper July 30, 1953, reporting RC's capture: http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2006/agosto/vier4/33raulmon-i.html

I believe he also played an important role in Operation Carlota - the Cuban defeat of the South African invasion of Angola in 1976. I'll post a source when I find it.

And Ramses II defeated the Hittites sure!! El Jigue 8-27-06

[edit] Rumor mill

Rumors are just rumors, still further rumors suggest that Fidel is trying to kill Raul to preserve his "Legacy." El Jigue 8-27-06

[edit] Father

Is his father Ángel Castro y Argiz?

No not according to Díaz-Versón, Salvador 1980 One man, one battle. World Wide Pub. Co. New York ASIN B0006E1ULI. pp. 93 and 107, and a number of places on the web e.g. [2] And there is an old photograph on the web which shows his father Felipe Mirabal and Batista during his baptism ceremony. El Jigue 9-7-06

[edit] Not the model of a modern major general

The proper title for Raul Castro is either Major General, or Field Marshall (since he had no superiors in the Cuban Armed forces). However, one should note that he is not, nor ever has been a model of a modern major general xe xe El Jigue 9-13-06. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 208.65.190.194 (talk • contribs).

One notes that such identification is not needed since the Cuban government already knows who I am and I will continue to post even though Raul Castro and more so Ramirito really scare me. El Jigue 9-17-06

BTW In Spanish Raúl is written with an accent on the u to break the diphthong (that is the accent indicates that the two vowels are pronounced separately) just to remind one that otherwise is "sounds funny" as a diphthong (kind of like Rool, as in drool). In English one has to remember the correct pronunciation. No big deal, since even the Royal Spanish Academy of the Tongue (xe xe) now considers even the ñ to be merely a n, and the double l or ll pronounced almost as an English y is considered to take and alphabetical order as if merely two l. El Jigue (which the way I pronounce it is written El Jigüe with a gutteral ü almost but not quite like the Germanic sound). 9-13-06

[edit] Clarification

At the end of the section of '2006 transfer of power', it seem to say Raul Castro was acting president July 31-Sept 4, 2006. However there's was no announcement that Fidel Castro had resumed power Sept. 4 or since? Whic is it, is Fidel back in charge or is Raul still 'temporarily' in charge of Cuba? GoodDay 16:54, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

G'Day One indication that Raul may have assumed much greater power is a disturbing report (DEBKAfile Exclusive: Hugo Chavez signs secret anti-US cooperation pacts with Iran providing bases in Venezuela – and later Cuba – for Iranian intelligence-cum-terror agents) from Israeli intelligence sources [3]. This is interesting since high ranking members of the Israeli Government and even their intelligence sources (until now?) have been investing in Cuba. El Jigue 9-20-06

[edit] Is Cuba a kingdom now

Life long rule and succession to relatives are part of the definition of a kingdom, thus technically the Cuba is either such or is approaching such. One can draw parallels from English History, with the circumstances of William the Conqueror, and Oliver Cromwell's unsuccessful attempt to pass on his "Protectorship" to his son. Thus one could envision, after hundreds of years, that the present Cuban rubberstamp "parliament" might evolve into something real, and Cuba would become like modern Spain a parliamentary democracy. Raul's rumored bisexuality is a mere obstacle to inheritance (as it is said was the case of King John of England), not like the prohibitive circumstance of Alfredo Stroessner's son in Paraguay El Jigüe 9-23-06

No, Cuba isn't a kingdom. A kingdom is a nation thats head of state has the title of King/Queen, just as an empire's head of state is a Emperor/Empress. Cuba head of state is a President, similer countries (thas have had recent non-monarch herititary succession), are North Korea & Syria (in these cases father's were succeeded by their sons). GoodDay 14:05, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

Oh excuse me "Lord Protector" then...El Jigue 10-22-06

Um, my guess is that, Cuba is still a republic. GoodDay 00:31, 1 November 2006 (UTC)
A 'hereditary' republic, then. Just like Azerbaidjan and other CIS countries (and the ones you mentioned.--Constanz - Talk 15:39, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

In political terms, Cuba is a Communist Dictatorship. However, this can't be applied to the infobox of the Cuba article. Wikipedia can only reflect, what's in a country's constitution. Further more this 'talk page' section -'Is Cuba a kingdom now'- should be on the Cuba talk page. GoodDay 22:17, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Vive Raúl!

Report states that using odd grammar crowd cheers Raul. Apparently this cheer might be interpreted to indicate that some question if Raul has or has not joined the living dead "His speech, which closed the union's 19th congress in Havana, earned him a standing ovation from the crowd of about 1,400 people, which chanted ``Vive Raúl!" [4] El Jigue 9-29-06

[edit] Fidel Castro's death watch

It is said that Raul may well be preparing his brother's funeral [5]. El Jigue 10-26-06

The latest video does little to dispel the rumors that Castro is terminal. El Jigue 10-29-06

Interesting; But these observations belong on a Wiki-Blog. Now, if you have something to add to or subtract from the article, then (by all means) discuss it here. The 'talk page' is for discussing possible changes to the article, Not for observations/speculations/conversations of article-related events. GoodDay 01:05, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

Coronel Buendia, unless Cuban government approval is required for declarations of such in Wikipedia reality demands otherwise, Raul is the new head (no pun intended) of state. El Jigue 11-12-06

Again, please stop mis-using the 'talk' pages. Conform to Wikipedia rules & policies. GoodDay 23:47, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Raul Castro is now effective head of state

Unless Wikipedia needs to clear the matter with the Cuban government it is now time to say:

'Raul Castro is head of State'

and in all probability will be so until he dies. El Jigue 11-12-06

Please stop blogging the 'talk pages', when you have something to add to the article, then by all means present it on the 'talk' page OR add it to the article. GoodDay 00:10, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Raúl's role in saving the Cuban economy during the "Special Period"

Shouldn't something be said in this article about how he organized the "military enterprises" which played a critical role in enabling the Cuban economy to survive the "Special Period" and continue to be important sources of production and hard currency revenue today? -- Polaris999 07:28, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

Indeed Polaris. Something about that should be covered.--Zleitzen 19:26, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Re: Infobox -- Should the word "First" be included in his titles? Comments requested.

(Responding to Polaris who asked me to take a look at the info box) I think the infobox looks fine to me as it now stands. Regarding Vilma Espín, I've stayed clear of the "seperated" business elsewhere because I wasn't sure what the status was. The couple are said to have divorced 20 years ago but this hasn't been confirmed by either party to my knowledge. EJ recently claimed she had in fact died! Who knows?--Zleitzen 19:25, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Either they are divorced, or Raúl is a bigamist (which I doubt). Since I don't have documentation for the divorce, I thought "separated" might be a good compromise. BTW Latell in his "definitive" book on Raúl completely misses the fact that they have been apart for many years (although still good friends) -- makes one wonder about the quality of his (and the CIA's) sources, doesn't it? -- Polaris999 19:31, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
Thank you for checking Raúl's new infobox. BTW I have just added a line about "responsibilities transferred" to FCR's infobox so that his and Raúl's will be "in sync". Hope you approve ... -- Polaris999 21:56, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
Hello, perhaps I'm nitpicking, but maybe First Vice President is more discriptive; as there are con-currently more then 1 Cuban VP, Raul is the 'First" VP (the 'First' meaning higher, then the other Cuban VP's). What do ya think? GoodDay 22:49, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
I would say that it is definitely "more descriptive" and my own thoughts as to whether or not the "First" should be included in the infobox are 50-50, hence my quandary. I hope that other editors will express their opinions here since I don't think the matter merits setting up a formal "survey", do you? ... -- Polaris999 22:58, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

I noticed the extra VPs of Cuba, listed on the Council of State of Cuba page. Thought perhaps Vice President without the 'First' would make Raul appear as the only VP of Cuba, instead of the ranking VP of Cuba. GoodDay 23:03, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

I agree, it doesn't warrant a formal "survey". GoodDay 23:25, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
Hello GoodDay. I am wondering why you added the "First" to "Vice President of the Council of State", but not to "Vice President of the Council of Ministers", of which he is also the First Vice President? -- Polaris999 21:56, 14 November 2006 (UTC)
I've corrected my oversight; thanks for pointing it out. I must have been asleep at the switch. GoodDay 02:13, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The 50th Revolution Anniversary

Apparently Raul Castro did not show for the celebration of 50th anniversary of the Revolutionary Army at the Karl Marx (in pre-Castro days La Blanquita) theater in Havana on November 27th. Instead Juan Ameida presided and Ramiro Valdés, Guillermo García, vicepresident Carlos Lage, and Parliament President Ricardo Alarcón attended. [6] El Jigue 11-20-06

Well, good for Raul. Meanwhile, stop blogging the talk pages. Keep your blogs to your own IP adress talk pages. GoodDay 21:40, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

Raul did show, Fidel did not [7]. El Jigue 12-02-06

You should add this too the article. GoodDay 23:55, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
According to Aumentan dudas tras ausencia de Castro en homenaje, Raúl did not attend the act at the Blanquita/Chaplin/Karl Marx theatre on 30 November 2006. Their reporter writes, "A la gala, en la que también estuvo ausente Raúl, pero no el resto de la dirigencia local, asistieron unas 5,000 personas e inauguró el homenaje que organiza la Fundación Guayasamín ..."
Of course, Raúl did attend — and was the principal speaker at — the military parade in the Plaza on 02 December 2006. -- Polaris999 03:39, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

Polaris are you sure they were two different events on different days. By the way there is an interesting, althought in my opinion somewhat flawed, analysis on Raul at [8] El Jigue 12-8-06

[edit] Something strange going on with "notes" in this article

The notes in this article appear to be rather chaotic: various types and several out of sequence. Perhaps the person(s) who inserted them would like to fix them? -- Polaris999 22:10, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

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