Juanita Castro obit

Juanita Castro, Fidel's Sister Recruited by CIA, Dies in US

 

She was not on the list.

Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro's younger sister—and one of his fiercest critics— has died in Miami aged 90.

Juanita Castro fled Cuba for Florida in 1964 after accusing her brother of turning the island into "an enormous prison surrounded by water." She went on to work with the CIA to try to bring about his downfall.

Although she did express some sadness upon hearing of her brother's death in November 2016, she insisted she would never return to her homeland.

Journalist María Antonieta Collins, co-author of Juanita Castro's memoir, announced news of her subject's death on Instagram on Monday. A translation of her post, which was written in Spanish, reads: "This is the news that I never wanted to give, but that, as her spokesperson in the last three decades of her life, I have to communicate.

"Today, at 90 years of age, Juanita Castro went ahead of us on the path of life and death, an exceptional woman, a tireless fighter for the cause of her Cuba."

The family requested privacy, and would not be giving interviews, she added. The funeral would be private.

"We ask for your prayers for the eternal rest of her soul," the post ended.

Juanita Castro obtained U.S. citizenship in 1984 and opened a pharmacy in Miami. She worked at the store for years before selling it to CVS in 2006.

Juana de la Caridad Castro Ruz was born in Birán, near Mayarí, in what is now known as Holguín Province on 6 May 1933. She was the fourth child of Ángel Castro y Argiz and Lina Ruz González and had three brothers — Ramón, Fidel, and Raúl — and three sisters — Angelita, Emma, and Agustina. Lina Ruz González was Ángel Castro's cook; he was married to another woman when Juanita and her older brothers were born.

Castro also had five half-siblings: Lidia, Pedro Emilio, Manuel, Antonia, and Georgina, who were raised by Ángel Castro's first wife Maria Luisa Argota, as well as another half-brother, Martín, from her father’s relationship with a farmhand.