Ramón Castro, elder brother of Cuban leaders Fidel and Raúl, dies at 91
Ramón was often confused for middle brother Fidel and helped found Cuba’s Communist party, but preferred tending livestock to revolutionary life
He was not on the list.
Ramón Castro, a lifelong rancher and farmer who bore a strong physical resemblance to younger brother Fidel, has died, Cuban state media announced on Tuesday. He was 91.
Widely known by his nickname “Mongo,” the white-bearded Ramón Castro preferred tending crops and livestock to the revolutionary political life embraced by his younger siblings Fidel and Raúl, who replaced Fidel as Cuba’s president in February 2008.
Two years older than Fidel, Ramón was long used to getting double-takes from people who insisted he looked just like his famous brother. At times, Ramón was said to reply that because he was older, Fidel actually looked like him.
Ramón, Fidel and Raúl were the second, third and fourth children of Angel Castro, a Spanish-born rancher, and his second wife, Lina Ruz.
The three brothers attended Roman Catholic schools in eastern Cuba, where their teachers complained about their pranks and trouble making, prompting Angel to pull them out of classes for some time.
Once grown, Fidel and Raúl headed off to Havana for studies, then the business of launching a revolution against dictator Fulgencio Batista, who seized power in a 1952 coup.
But Ramón Castro was content to remain in the village of Birán in eastern Cuba, where he helped his father with the family business.
Nevertheless, Ramón remained in contact with his siblings. He wrote letters to Fidel in prison when he and Raúl and other followers were arrested after their unsuccessful 1953 attack on a military barracks that launched their armed struggle. Sometimes Ramón sent a ham or a box of cigars along with the correspondence.
According to letters from that period, Fidel asked Ramón to assure their parents that prison was not “a horrible and shameful idea ... When one’s motives are lofty and great, then it is an honourable place.”
After Fidel and his followers established their rebel stronghold in Cuba’s eastern mountains, there was at least one recorded instance of Fidel visiting the family ranch, where he feasted on a turkey that Ramón had kept frozen for months in hopes of such a visit.
Following the 1959 triumph of the Cuban revolution and Fidel’s subsequent rise to power, Ramón often worked as a consultant for the government ministries of agriculture and sugar. In the early 1960s, he oversaw sugar production in eastern Cuba, where he helped increase output.
Ramón founded several state companies, including ones that handled the transportation of sugar cane and the production of oranges. He also was involved in agricultural research.
Although he wielded little government power, Ramón nevertheless was a founding member of the Communist party of Cuba and served as a deputy in the country’s parliament, the National Assembly.
Little was known about his private life except that he was born on 14 October, 1924, had been married and had at least two sons, Ramón Omar Castro and Angel Castro.
Being the president’s brother often brought him into contact with high-profile visitors, including American film director Oliver Stone, who met Fidel and Ramón during a 2002 visit.
More recently, Ramón befriended rancher John Parke Wright, of J.P. Wright & Co of Florida, during the American’s recent visits to negotiate sales of US livestock to the communist government. Wearing big cowboy hats, the pair rode horses and inspected cattle at the Nina Bonita ranch in the western province of Pinar del Rio.
Although Fidel quit smoking cigars in 1986, Ramón maintained the habit he picked up from his father at age 12.
Ramon liked to boast about his family’s longevity. Their father lived until 82, and there reportedly was at least one aunt who lived past 100.
“It seems that we have a good genetic mix,” Ramon said in late 2004, expressing confidence that Fidel would quickly recover after a fall, which he did.
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